Ahmet SHALA
He was among the very first entrepreneurs in Kosovo to establish his own businesses, initially on the trading sector and production and later to continue in the education field.
He is a Visiting Professor at different Universities in USA, where he is teaching, studying and consulting in different subjects and fields of public policies, regional cooperation, peace building and leadership.
Prior to this, he served as the Ambassador of the Republic of Kosovo to Japan (2012-2015). Having served as First Minister of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Kosovo from 2008-2011, he is credited with having built some of the fundamentals of the current economic system in Kosovo. In cooperation with Kosovo’s strategic partners such as the US and the EU, he successfully coordinated the Kosovo membership to the main International Financial Institutions such as the World Bank and IMF.
Before becoming Minister of Finance and Economy, he for almost 10 years worked with the European Union in Kosovo, from 1999-2008, in different key roles on transforming the Kosovo economy into an open market economy.
For more than 20 years he has been also engaged in the academic field in Kosova and the region. He has lectured occasionally in different European and American Universities and institutions such as London School of Economics and Harvard University. He has also published several scientific publications. He has been a Board member in many educational, governmental and non-governmental institutions and organizations in Kosovo, region, EU and globally.
Mr. Shala is engaged also in in many peace building and socio-economic reforms in Kosovo, in the Balkan Peninsula and worldwide.