Business Tuesday #13

On January 14, 2014, at the Business Tuesday #13, experts and leader of the information and communication technology field in Kosovo discussed about the latest technology trends in Kosovo and the world for 2014 to an audience of over 60 people at the Innovation Centre Kosovo. It was stated that Kosovo is now joining the world trends in technology usage, whereby the request for mobile and web apps is predominant and necessary in various aspects of daily lives.“We are trying to promote Kosovo as a country where IT has a lot of prosperity and a huge potential” said Vjollca Çavolli the Executive Director of the Kosovo Association of Information and Communication Technology (STIKK). She stated that for the Kosovar youth technology is not only a part of the daily lives as a communication means, but rather a working tool even more.The audience had an opportunity to also listen to the presentation of Bersant Deva, PhD candidate at the Technical University of Berlin, Kujtim Gashi director of the Kosovo Information Society Agency, Dardan Sejdiu, Deputy Mayor of Prishtina and Hekuran Doli – CEO at Terabytespace.

ICT equipment exempt from customs duty

On January 16, 2014, the Law No. 04/L-163 ON GOODS EXEMPT FROM CUSTOM TAX AND GOODS WITH ZERO RATE OF THE CUSTOM TAX was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Kosovo. This law was approved in the 95th meeting of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo based on decision no .03 / 95 dated 17.10.2012 and since then , the law has passed both readings in parliament and the assembly, following which it was returned from the office of the President due to a contesting article from the legal office . After many vicissitudes and bureaucratic delays, the law was finally passed in the Assembly session in December 2013 . STIKK in cooperation with its members, with the aim of creating a more favorable legislative and policy environment for the development the ICT sector, was engaged regarding this law since its initiation process and has organized working groups composed of its members and stakeholders .Despite the fact that the approved list did not include all of the equipment suggested by STIKK and its members, this list provides a good basis upon which future requests can be build upon. This law will have an impact on the development of all sectors and Kosovo society itself, while reducing the cost of ownership of these devices. We as STIKK will continue to advocate for tax breaks by deducting VAT from 16 % to 5 % in ICT equipment.