1. East Agri 2010 - ROUND TABLE 4; Istanbul, 14 October 2010 Introduction INVESTMENTS ACROSS BORDERS: THE WAY FORWARD FOR AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE WESTERN BALKAN COUNTRIES 14 October 2010 - Istanbul, Turkey Richard Eberlin Land Tenure and Rural Development Officer FAO Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia Budapest, Hungary

2. East Agri 2010 - ROUND TABLE 4; Istanbul, 14 October 2010 2 Overview Introduction Activities so far Results Some questions

3. East Agri 2010 - ROUND TABLE 4; Istanbul, 14 October 2010 3 Introduction SWG – APFs and SWG meetings – SWG has prepared, as part of their mandate, several assessments and proposals for cross-border projects EastAgri in Paris, September 2008: “RT 4 - Participatory approaches to rural development in the Western Balkans” collaboration SWG-FAO – workshop in Prague, February 2009: “Rural Development in EU-Accession Countries - Support Programmes and Capacity Building” collaboration SWG-FAO-EC

4. East Agri 2010 - ROUND TABLE 4; Istanbul, 14 October 2010 4 Activities SWG-FAO: – regional projects, e.g: “Capacity building for rural develeopment at local level in SEE” “Support for establishment of rural development networks in SEE countries” FAO work on related rural development issues, e.g.: – Non Wood Forest Products (NWFP) – food quality linked to geographical origin (PDO/PGI) collaboration FAO-EC – EC-FAO study “Potential for Diversification of the Rural Sector/Economy in Albania and Montenegro” – JRC study “Facilitating an area-based development approach in a selected region in the Western Balkans”

5. East Agri 2010 - ROUND TABLE 4; Istanbul, 14 October 2010 5 Results 1 st JRC seminar, 6-7 September 2010 – ABD was never used in CB areas FAO-EC study – (1) "A Concept for Rural Economy Diversification and short Review of its Experience in Europe" – (2) "Review of rural diversification experience in Albania and Montenegro" political support is available through SWG

6. East Agri 2010 - ROUND TABLE 4; Istanbul, 14 October 2010 6 Some questions new approach needed? JRC study lead to a new approach? e.g.: – CBAD - Cross Border Area Development – CBARD - Cross Border Area Rural Development – CBTD - Cross Border Territorial Development specific economic development concept for border areas? INTEREG not sufficient to foster CB cooperation? do we need simply specific support measures/ instruments for cross-border areas (e.g. LFA/Mountain areas)? – e.g. finance – e.g. specific trade regime – e.g. specific regime for persons (taxes) or only question of political will?

7. East Agri 2010 - ROUND TABLE 4; Istanbul, 14 October 2010 7 Thank you for your attention & Looking forward to an interesting and conclusive discussions