On September 14^th, Ambassador Greg Delawie and USAID Deputy Mission Director Mike de la Rosa visited the municipality of Istog/k to meet with local civil society representatives, businesses, and government officials.  The Ambassador participated in a discussion on women's property rights with local activists and helped to inaugurate a new road that now connects two diverse Istog/k communities.

During his stay in this municipality, the Ambassador toured the Agroprodukt Company, a thriving business from Kosovo's growing medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) sector.  Agroprodukt has 32 full-time employees and 80 seasonal employees and hundreds of collectors, including many rural family collectors who supplement their annual income through their collection efforts. 

He also visited a loan beneficiary of the Kosovo Credit Guarantee Fund (KCGF).  The Fund was established to issue portfolio loan guarantees to financial institutions to help cover the risk for loans and thereby increase lending to Kosovo’s small businesses. The first loan was issued in September 2016 and to date, a total of 416 loans exceeding 20 million dollars euros have been granted.  This visit was the first time the Ambassador and USAID had the opportunity to meet directly with one of these beneficiaries.