(ANSA) - BELGRADE, APRIL 19 - The World Bank board of directors approved a 90 million-dollar (approx. 80 million euro) project, as a part of a wider 140-million-dollar initiative, aimed at supporting the countries in the Western Balkans in lowering trade costs and increasing transport efficiency, the Bank said in a statement.

"The project will finance the design, development, and implementation of initiatives to improve transparency, lower transaction costs, enhance inter-agency coordination, and reduce the time it takes to trade across borders," the Bank informed.

"Delays at crossings in the Western Balkans are five times longer than in many EU countries and trucks spend some 26 million hours at crossings in the region each year - that's nearly 3,000 years," said Linda Van Gelder, World Bank Regional Director for the Western Balkans.

The project will focus in particular on Serbia (40 million), North Macedonia (30) and Albania (10), with the aim of reducing annual export and import costs by more than 10 percent and greenhouse emissions.

Excessive time spent at the borders "dampens efficiency, increases costs, and hinders trade," the World Bank stressed.

(ANSA).