The Banking and Finance department of Epoka University participated at the International Conference on Economic and Social Studies (ICESoS’18), Regional Economic Development, focusing on “Contemporary trends in tourism and hospitality industry in the Balkan region”, on 10-12 May, 2018, which was held by International Burch University in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The participation of banking and finance students (under and postgraduate level) and academic staff to this conference was highly appreciated for their well qualified papers, as well as for their presentation skills and their ability to speak fluent English. During their presentation, our students showed high level of knowledge obtained during their studies, thus their scientific work was valued accordingly by both academicians and other participants.  More specifically, below are listed the under/ postgraduate students and their coauthors with their respective papers:

Undergraduate’s:

The insurance sector in the EU and its impact on financial stability- Iva Mushani

Factors that affect female labor supply in Albania-Flavia Depa & Ugur Ergun

Determinants of the Albania tourism industry- Doriana Mirashi

Air pollution in Albania- Mirela Kruja & Sara Bakalli

Analysis of balance of payments for Western Balkan countries- Elda Cifliku, Megi Qoku & Suada Maloku

Impact of Syrian refugee wave on the public finance-comparison analysis between Germany and Greece- Adelajda Doka  & Chrysanthi Balomenou

Postgraduates’:

Political instability and economic growth- Arjona Cela, Eglantina Hysa & Ugur Ergun

The impact of exchange rate volatility on economic growth- Fatbardha Morina, Eglantina Hysa & Ugur Ergun

The impacts of innovation, IT, productivity on Albanian exports- Andia Pirja

Banking concentration in Kosovo: Evidence from a country in transition- Flamur R. Keqa

Tourism slogans and tourism promotion strategies: Albania and its regional competitors- Sonila Kella Cela

From all of the above mentioned, it is obvious that the presence of Epoka University and mainly the ones of BAF department was positive and dynamic. Overall, this conference could be considered as very beneficial for our students and academic staff since it gave a great opportunity to expand their scientific collaboration with distinguished academicians and other students from other foreign universities, to acquire and exchange experiences and to enrich their scientific knowledge background as well.

Furthermore, during this conference the participating students and academic staff had the opportunity to visit the ancient city of Mostar.