EDITORIAL

EDITORIAL

PETRIT BALIJA CEO, KOSOVO BANKING ASSOCIATION

Sustainable finance aims at integrating environmental, social and good governance (ESG) criteria into financial services and supporting sustainable economic growth. The banking sector, as one of the most important pillars of Kosovo’s financial stability, is making an important contribution to raising the awareness andtransparency of financial stakeholders, business enterprises and state authorities on the need to implement the necessary criteria for a greener Kosovo and a more sustainable economy. This edition of The Kosovo Banker puts a special emphasis on this global agenda with implications in Kosovo as well.

Besides the primary contribution to economic recovery, the banking sector is continuing to make a valuable contribution to supporting society through donations and numerous volunteering and social responsibilityactivities. This inspires us to continue our work to overcome all challenges and take bold steps towards a better future for our country’s economy.

In this edition of “The Kosovo Banker”, we invite you to follow the latest views about the Sustainable Finance topic - Environmental, Social and Governance Standards on Sustainable Finance in Kosovo. This topic has also been the major discussion in the Annual Banking Convention for 2021, where the banking sector and relevant stakeholders were committed to paying more attention to this important agenda. This edition expands on this discussion by enablingvarious contributions by the authors in fostering discussion and debate in this area to advance in this direction in 2022.

I would also like to inform you that Kosovo Banking Association decided to have The Kosovo Banker magazine published only in electronic form as of this edition, thus adapting to the requests of our members, who through the survey, in a vast majority, have expressed the proposal to have publication made possible only through electronic channels. It is a pleasant coincidence that the decision not to print further physical copies of this publication comes exactly in this edition, which has the environmental and social criteria as its main topic.

We are grateful to all the authors and sponsors who supported us in the realization of this edition.