Science Ministers from the Western Balkans and Commissioner Carlos Moedas exchange on Research and Innovation

(Picture (right to left): Ammar MIRASCIJA, Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina | Kostadin KOSTADINOV, Ministry of Education and Science, Bulgaria | Sanja DAMJANOVIC, Minister of Science Montenegro | Mladen SARCEVIC, Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development, Serbia | Carlos MOEDAS, Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation | Lindita NIKOLLA, Minister of Education and Sports, Albania | Arber ADEMI, Minister of Education and Science, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia | Shyqeri BYTYQI, Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Kosovo * | Alen SERANIC, Minister of Science and Technology of Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina
* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSC 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.)

Brussels 25 June saw a full day of exchanges on Research and Innovation between all the Science Ministers from the Western Balkans and Commissioner Carlos Moedas. Research and Innovation are key tools to move towards a knowledge-based society underpinning growth and the creation of jobs.

In today's information age, science and technology is a cross -border endeavour. The value of engaging in EU research programmes cannot be measured by the number of grants alone. The value lies in building networks, accessing information and experience participating in value chains. By strengthening networks, by sharing resources, and by pooling investments the participants of the Ministerial meeting want to develop more and better ideas and improve Europe's competitiveness. The format of the Steering Platform on Research and Innovation has enabled this rich exchange underlining the commitment of the Western Balkans countries to advance research and innovation across the Balkans and together with Europe.

The Ministers provided updates on their policy efforts to promote research and innovation and expressed their support for regional research initiatives. Ministers welcomed the examples of successful Centres of Excellence such as INNOFEIT (the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), BIO-ICT (Montenegro) and ANTARES/BioSense (Serbia) as well as good practice examples such as the Corallia Clusters Initiative (Greece) showing how the Western Balkans can enhance excellence in research and innovation.