The 17^th regular meeting of the Stakeholder Group for the cross-border region of “Sharra” was held on 20 April, 2017 at the restaurant “Antonio” in Jegunovce.

The discussions on this meeting were focused on the following topics:

• Overview of the activities within the EU project “Fostering regional cooperation and balanced territorial development of Western Balkan countries in the process towards EU integration” related to implementation of ABDA in “Sharra” cross-border region;
• Informative session on the outcomes of the Second call of the ABD Grant Scheme within the LEIWW project.

It has been concluded that the implementation of the project EU funded project: “Fostering regional cooperation and balanced territorial development of Western Balkan countries in the process towards EU integration” provided opportunities for organization of regional events which contributed to the improvement of the local and regional economy, but also a chance for people from the neighbouring countries to better get to know each other’s culture and tradition. The current phase of the project which was implemented in the period June 2015 – April 2017, in the cross-border region of Sharra, included the implementation of regional activities, such as Stakeholder Group meetings, People-to-People events, workshops for capacity building for the stakeholders, facilitation of development of project applications, etc. One of the conclusions from the meeting stated that the Stakeholder Group for the cross-border region of “Sharra” should continue to include other different stakeholders, especially from the business sector and possibly work on developing common business ideas.

At the end of the meeting a press conference was organized with local and national media to promote and share the information regarding the regular meeting of the Stakeholder Group for the cross-border region of “Sharra” and the closure of the project financed by the European Union “Fostering regional cooperation and balanced territorial development of Western Balkan countries in the process towards EU integration”.

This activity is part of the EU funded project: “Fostering regional cooperation and balanced territorial development of Western Balkan countries in the process towards EU integration” implemented by SWG.