That is the conclusion of a new report, Progress in Policy Reform in South East Europe: Monitoring Instruments, presented by OECD Secretary-General Donald Johnston and Special Co-ordinator of the Stability Pact for South East Europe Erhard Busek at a meeting of government representatives in Paris in November to review progress on economic reform.

The meeting also addressed other steps to improve the region’s attractiveness to investors, focusing on monitoring progress, regional initiatives to implement reform, assuring political support for the reform process, and encouraging private sector involvement.

According to the Monitoring Instrument report – published under the auspices of the Investment Compact for South East Europe, a key initiative of the Stability Pact – the countries of South East Europe are showing a new determination to build a more stable and investment-friendly economic environment. Close to 50% of specific measures targeted by the SEE countries in the past two years have already been implemented.

However, the pace of economic reform remains uneven. Over the past 12 months, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, as well as Serbia, Albania and Montenegro have achieved positive results in implementing economic reform. However, the pace of reform was slower in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Moldova and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

©OECD Observer No 235, December 2002