News

The Foreign Investors Association of Albania (FIAA) on February 26^th held its Annual Assembly Meeting. In this meeting there were presented the main activities and the work program of the association along with the main challenges of its 2020 Agenda.

During this Meeting, the Assembly of Members elected the President of FIAA along with the new members to the Board of Directors that will lead the Association in the next two years.

The New Managing Board of FIAA consists of High Executives of important companies in the country:

Mr. Constantin von ALVENSLEBEN    

CEO of Tirana International Airport, Newly elected President of FIAA

Mr. Elvin GURI                                           

Investor at Telekom Albania, Newly Elected Board Member of FIAA

Mr. Bledar SHELLA                                   

CEO of OTP Bank Albania, Newly Elected Board Member of FIAA

Mr. Rohan D’SOUZA                              

Country Manager of SHELL Companies in Albania, elected in 2019

Mrs. Stela DHAMI                                   

Managing Partner of Colliers International in Albania, elected in 2019

Mr. Xingyun SUN                                    

CEO of Bankers Petroleum Albania, elected in 2019

Mr. Perparim KALO                               

Managing Partner at Kalo & Associates, elected in 2019

The new Chairman of FIAA, Mr. Constantin von ALVENSLEBEN comes with a long experience in airports and aviation, but also in the property development industry. He became familiar with Albania and its business environment since his first position as CEO of TIA during 2005-2007, where he successfully managed the start-up phase of the only Airport in Albania.  In September 2019, Mr. Constantin relocated to Albania to undertake a new challenge as CEO of Tirana International Airport SHPK, this time owned by the Chinese company ”China Everbright” which is based and listed in Hongkong.

During his word the New Chairman thanked the Members of FIAA for trusting and voting for him, and giving him the chance to lead an important association such as FIAA.

With 20 years presence in Albania, FIAA has been and continues to be an important partner for the Government of Albania in the development and economic integration of the country. The Association has consolidated a sustainable co-operation with local and international authorities in the country, positioning itself as part of the various consulting structures focusing on the business climate in the country and absorbing new investments. FIAA counts 80 member companies, among them large international corporations such as Shell, Statkraft, important international banks and experienced property, infrastructure and energy developing companies.

“EXPECTATIONS FOR 2020”

Tom Kristian LARSEN

CEO and Country Head Albania of STATKRAFT/Devoll Hydropower

I encourage the public as well as private sector to push for continuous improvements and implementation of reforms and measures for increasing transparency as well as decreasing corruption and unfair competition. Only by relentlessly handling such endemic legacies can the country truly move forward to realize its full potential for a stronger economy and broader prosperity.

Mario BRACCI

CEO of Antea CEMENT

2020 is expected to be another challenging year for Antea Cement. Cement consumption in the domestic market for the past 2-3 years has shown signs of stability accompanied by a modest growth, the company remains optimistic that such trends will remain stable for the year ahead. Nevertheless, the company remains cautious about developments that might undermine the current stability in the market which are related to the liquidity in the market, availability and progress of existing projects, as well as production costs.

Similarly the company will be as well active in the export activities by exporting in the neighboring countries as  well as in the Mediterranean region, however such exports will depend as usual on the on the production costs of the company in order to achieve profitable exports due to high competitive pricing in the international market.

Stela DHAMI, MBA, LEED® GA

Managing Partner of Colliers International

From the real estate perspective, year 2020 is a year that will see continuous growth in the tourism sector and more specifically in the hotel subsector of the market. However, the earthquake of 26^th of November will have an impact on the desire of new brands to enter the Albanian market and primarily the Durres-Golem area. Interest will increase for the Riviera portion of the coast, but here investments in infrastructure are instrumental in attracting world recognized brands.

Other real estate segments of the market will see change. The office sector will see an increase in stock in the foreseeable future coming from the increased number of office and mixed use buildings being built currently in Tirana, where the main economic activity occurs in the country. The increase in stock will drive downward pressure on real estate rental prices. The retail sector will not see any change as there are no plans for future major retail projects in the country. We will see however the development of big box retail in other cities of Albania to house some of the large space retailers. New retailers that will find the perfect balance between quality and price will be accepted positively in the market by the consumers who in our market are very price sensitive. The residential market will be over saturated given that we already have an oversupply of unsold apartments.  High end residential stock will continue to attract investors in the peripheral areas of the city that attract buyers who are looking for a lifestyle change.

Rohan D’SOUZA

Country Chairman of Shell Industries Albania

Shell is proud of the progress we have made in Albania over the last few years. Our strategy is to deliver a world-class investment case, to thrive in the energy transition, and to maintain a strong societal licence to operate. We see signs for optimism in the continuing reform agenda being collaboratively employed by Government and the International Community. We look forward to continuing to work with many Albanian companies and the Albanian Government over the year ahead.

Përparim KALO

Founder and Managing Partner of KALO & ASSOCIATES

2020 opens a new decade, so it is not simply a new year, but the beginning of 10 years period of regeneration and healing of sectors of economics and politics and of major events and developments such as the likelihood of opening of negotiations for EU membership, completion of OSCE chairmanship, reconstruction of massive buildings damaged by the earthquakes, etc. These events call for greater involvement of businesses in mobilizing the energy Albanian people have and create more opportunities for using such energy to improve the Doing Business climate. FIAA as a leading business organization will have to play an important role to raise optimism of business community through an open, but very demanding dialogue with the Albanian public institutions, especially with law making and law enforcement agencies.

This year is considered very special because of expected travel to space on the new rover by early autumn, and hopefully will coincide with Albania starting official travel to EU…

Xingyun SUN

CEO of Bankers Petroleum Albania

We are expecting the tax regime in Albania can keep stable and all monitoring and inspections from the government or its agency should strictly respect laws and regulations.

The second edition of Tirana Economic Forum, entitled “PATHS TO PRAGMATIC REFORM”, was held on January 30th, 2020, in Tirana.  Tirana Economic Forum is a high-level meeting of the most influential Albanian and international political, corporate, and intellectual leaders to address pressing challenges currently facing Albania and the world.

FIAA continued to be the main local Partner of the Tirana Economic Forum by having a high representation of its members and by moderating one of the most important sessions related to the Economic Reforms and Business Environment in the Country. The Session, entitled “Maintaining the reform momentum:  the case for macro-fiscal sustainability and improved investment climate” was moderated by the FIAA Director Ms. Marinela Jazoj and was elaborated among key business Representatives in Albania such as Chairman of Shell Industries in Albania Mr. Rohan D’Souza, the President of the Union of Chambers of Commerce, Mrs. Ines Mucostepa along with other Representatives. The forum was an excellent Networking opportunity and helped to identify and assess key growth challenges and reforms, as well to learn from policy experiences in other countries.

To learn more on the Forum please visit: www.tiranaforum.com

FIAA hold its end of year Get Together in late November 2019, bringing together in a very warm atmosphere a large part of the Foreign Business Community, representatives of the diplomatic bodies along with several representatives of the Authorities and state institutions in the country.

The Deputy Chairman of FIAA, Mr. Mario Bracci and Executive Director Ms. Marinela Jazoj expressed some remarks and reflections on 2019 experiences and gratitude to the members who have trusted FIAA along the years and have stayed together for almost 20 years.

Among others, Mr. Bracci stated: “I would like to highlight that Government of Albania should increase the focus on the further improvement of the business climate, putting larger efforts on increasing transparency and decreasing corruption and unfair competition”.

On the other side, Mr. Eduard Shalsi, the Minister of State for the Protection of Entrepreneurship in Albania gave some remarks to the foreign business community and once more expressed his availability to cooperate and assist the foreign business and follow up with their concerns. For Mr. Shalsi it is very important the continuity of Communication with the Business Community.

The Event continued further with business talks among the guests and members and was a good timing to discuss the grounds and ideas for the 2020 Agenda.

IMF Tax Administration Mission on Medium Term Revenue Strategy (MTRS) visited Tirana during November and meet with FIAA Representatives. During the consultations with the FIAA, were discussed the main concerns and challenges Business is facing while operating in Albania. The main focus the business was giving in the meeting, was also on the progress of tax and customs reform in the country along with some ideas and recommendations they were proposing for improvements in this area. FIAA members in this meeting were coming from various industries, but what they stressed out, was a common concern when it comes with the relation they have with Tax Institutions in the country.

After the Ministry of Finance and Economy  released the Draft Law “On invoices and the system for monitoring the transactions” and the meeting of the Fiscal Council, the FIAA Tax and Financial Committee met at the beginning of November to comment and discuss on these drafts along with other changes and draft amendments part of the Fiscal Package 2020 such as:

• Draft Law on Tax Procedures and its Report
• Amendment on Tax on Incomes and its Report
• Draft Law on National Taxes and its Report
• Draft Law and Draft Decision on VAT and relevant report.

Given the broader impact that these draft laws were expected to have to the business, FIAA members have delivered reviews on these Drafts to the Ministry of Finance and Economy along with suggestions for the Fiscal Package drafts.

Minister/Counselor Mrs. Edith St-Hilaire, in charge for Commercial Sector at the Canadian Embassy in Rome and Mr. Matthew Kalisz, First Secretary and Trade Commissioner, paid an official visit during October in Tirana. During the visit, they met FIAA Representatives Mr. Perparim Kalo, Board Director and Mr. Perparim Alikaj, Chairman of FIAA Committee of Mining Oil & Gas. During this meeting, FIAA representatives presented a general view on the present Albanian foreign investment and economic situation, potential areas for investments and random barriers faced by investors while doing business in the country.

Being the only foreign business representing organization in Albania, FIAA met with the RCC Representatives (Regional Cooperation Council), and the Ministry of Finance and Economy, to give its views and perspectives on the implementation of Individual Reform Action Plan (IRAP) within the MAP REA Regional Investment Reform Agenda.  During the consultations with the FIAA Representatives, were discussed the ongoing reforms and policies undertaken in Albania along with the specific concerns Business is facing. FIAA highlighted the importance of the business involvement in the consulting process and stressed out continuous lack of the follow up in several government initiatives.

The expected outcome of this meeting was a clear set of reform priorities and implementation timelines over the next year and a half for each of the policy areas covered by the IRAP, ensuring that Albania’s respective policy priorities are addressed properly through the implementation of the IRAP.

Chaired by the Minister of Finance and Economy, Ms Anila Denaj, Albania Investment Council discussed “On Investment Potentials and Priority Sectors” during its scheduled meeting in October 2019. In her opening speech, Minister Denaj said that the meeting is a good opportunity for all the parties to dialogue the promotion of vital sectors of the economy in sustainable development models. According to Minister Denaj, fiscal consolidation, sectoral economic policies, natural resources, country’s competitive advantages and the potential of human resources are key factors to enable a structured medium-term economic growth.

For more information please visit: https://www.investment.com.al/investment-council-discusses-on-investment-potentials-and-priority-sectors/

The World Bank Group (WBG) has been preparing the Systematic Country Diagnostic (SCD) update for Albania. The first SCD for Albania was submitted to the WBG Board and published in 2015. The updated SCD is required as the evidence base to prepare the next Country Partnership Framework (CPF) that would define the engagement between the WBG and Albania in the next five years.

In frame of consultations with a range of stakeholders in Albania and for the purpose of gathering and analyzing evidence, a consultative meeting was held in September 18^th at the World Bank office in Tirana. Ms. Ana Maria Oviedo and Mr. Christoph Ungerer, main authors of the SCD presented the preliminary findings, followed by discussion and comments and meeting participants.

FIAA was represented in this meeting by Board Director Mr. Perparim Kalo.

The SCD update focuses on measuring Albania’s progress towards reaching the WBG “Twin Goals” of: eliminating poverty and advancing shared prosperity.

The SCD update is also mandated to identify key binding constraints to achieve the Twin Goals and policy priorities to tackle them.