Tuesday, March 6, 2007 - Wednesday, March 7, 2007 Study Visit of Kosovo Bankers Association to the Warsaw Institute of Banking and the Polish Bank Association Warsaw, Poland On March 6-7, 2007 representatives of the Kosovo Bankers Association (KBA) conducted a study visit to Poland to visit the Warsaw Institute of Banking and the Polish Bank Association. During the study visit, the KBA obtained detailed information about the training programs delivered by the Warsaw Institute of Banking and advocacy programs undertaken by the Polish Bank Association. Since 2004, one important component of the PFS Program’s work is the exchange of experiences between financial sector institutions in the new member states of the European Union and counterpart institutions in South East Europe. The study visit provided KBA with useful knowledge that will assist it in fulfilling its advocacy and training mandates. As a result of the discussions with the Polish Bank Association, KBA established three permanent consulting committees: a legal consulting committee, a committee on payments and an anti-money laundering committee. Following the study visit, KBA conducted a training needs analysis for 2008. The study visit was co-financed by a PFS Program Grant. (See the entry below dated February 2, 2007.) Friday, February 2, 2007 PFS Program Grant to Kosovo Bankers Association On Friday, February 2, 2007 the PFS Program awarded a PFS Program Grant to the Kosovo Bankers Association to conduct a Study Visit to Poland to visit the Warsaw Institute of Banking and the Polish Bank Association. The PFS Program grant is an outcome of the Study Visit to Warsaw, Poland for Representatives of South East European (SEE) Bank Associations / Bank Training Institutes organized by the PFS Program, the Warsaw Institute of Banking and The Gdansk Academy of Banking on February 14-15, 2006. Representatives of the Association of Montenegrin Banks, Association of Serbian Banks, Kosovo Bankers Association and the National Bank of Serbia participated in the Study Visit. The study visit will take place in March 2007. It will educate staff of the Kosovo Bankers Association about the wide range of training provided to Polish bankers by the respective Polish institutions. The Kosovo Bankers Association will also learn more about the institutional capacity of the two Polish bank training institutes. Following the study visit, the Kosovo Bankers Association will develop its training program for 2007 and draft a longer-term training strategy, utilizing the insights gained during the study visit.