Regional development strategy - RDA South

REGIONAL PROFILEEconomy: Production and Service Sectors22.4TABLE 6: Area of land by typePrizrenDragash/DragašSuhareka/SuvarekaRahovec/OrahovacMalisheva/MališevoMamusha/MamušaTotal (Ha)Natural partsUncultivated land 4,177 264 12,024 673 200 17,338Forests 24,977 7,326 2,923 9,236 16,392 60,854Total 29,154 7,590 14,947 9,909 16,592 78,192Agricultural landArable land 20,684 8,793 9,449 15,460 11,249 811 66,446Pastures 14,128 27,142 11,703 5,941 2,745 283 61,942Total 34,812 35,935 21,152 21,401 13,994 1,094 128,388medicinal and aromatic herbs, as well asknown for a variety of berries. More than 90 %of herbs are exported to western countries.Typical for this region is viticulture and itdeserves a separate mention. It is dominantin Rahovec/Orahovac, but also widespread inMunicipalities of Suhareka/Suvareka andPrizren. Good soils combined with favourableclimate conditions create significant potentialfor further development of the grape andwine production. Development of the sectorshould be linked with vineyard renovationand improvement as well as better linkagesbetween grape producers and winemakers orretail markets.The agricultural land represents approximately61% of the total area of the SouthernRegion and offers a great potential for furtherdevelopment. Over 65% of the working populationresident within Kosovo is employedwithin the agricultural sector. There is significantpotential for developing higher valueproducts as well as these that are grown in anorganic manner. Efforts to create properly developeddistribution chains (from farmersthrough collection facilities to the markets)need to be undertaken as one of the priorities.Many of the regional agricultural productshave a significant export potential. Formerlya net exporter of foodstuffs, Kosovo as a wholenow has a negative trade balance in this sector.This points out to the opportunities forsignificant import substitution based on thisregions production.Service SectorService sector (trade, hotel, cafes and restaurants,transport and telecommunication andother services) represent 81% of the total numberof registered enterprises. For the last 5years, this sector continues to be the mostpreferred, when starting a new business.While dominant from the point of view ofsheer size, number of businesses as well asjobs, this sector is relatively fragmented andtypically associated with lower than averageprofitability. The service sector of the regionaleconomy is not technology-based. It is dominatedby such low-tech areas as retail andwholesale trade, car service workshops, tireshops, petrol stations and numerous little coffeeshops or food establishments. The opportunitiesfor further development are associatedwith technology-based services (compatiblewith the young workforce of the region) andwith the tourism industry.The Economic Region South is still has severelyunderutilized potential in tourism-relatedservices. This relates not only to theMunicipality of Prizren, but also various waysto all other municipalities of the Region. Inspite of abundant natural resources attractivefor tourism purposes as well as rich culturaland historical heritage, the tourism industrystill has to become a major development driver.The development of the sector until nowhas been addressed in a fragmentary fashionand has not increased in a major way the incomesof a very large population segment involvedin tourism related service provision.Tourism needs to be developed in a complexmanner where the issues related to tourismbase (including human resource development);the tourism product development(such as family winter sport packages, winetours, bird watching etc.) and marketing/information/communicationare seen as a systemor interrelationships.REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR THE ECONOMIC REGION SOUTH19