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FIAA’s Energy Council under the leadership of Constantin von Alvensleben met in February 6th to catch up and discuss on the concerns and challenges still present in the industry.

The members agreed on a work plan and learned on the potential events planned to take place throughout the year.

Following a suggestion by Shell’s CEO in Albania, Ante Frens, the Council agreed to work on a new yearly project, the publication of an Infographic on the Albanian energy data. The first document of this kind is expected to be launched in the framework of the upcoming conference “Energy Transition Towards the Green Agenda”, planned to take place on March 15 in Tirana.

The Foreign Investors Association of Albania (FIAA) held in January 31st its yearly traditional event, a celebration which gathered the Foreign Business Community in Albania, the highest Diplomatic representatives along with key institutions in the country. The Event was greeted by H.E Mr. Silvio Gonzato, Ambassador of the European Union Delegation to Albania, Mr. Ervin Mete Minister of Finance of Albania, Mrs. Delina Ibrahimaj, State Minister of Entrepreneurship and Business Climate, who addressed their wishes and shared their messages and actions towards the Business and Economic Climate’ improvement in the Country.

Following the meeting of the revitalized National Economic Council, the inauguration of the “Business House”, a physical space – one of the cubes at the recently revitalized Pyramid building, took place in presence of Prime Minister Rama.
Initiated by Prime Minister Rama who shared this idea and task with Minister Delina Ibrahimaj, this “Business House” will act as a facilitator for all businesses operating in Albania.

FIAA is honored to have become an official member of the revitalized National Economic Council which started its operations with a first meeting for 2024 chaired by Prime Minister Edi Rama in January 11th, 2024.

The Council was initiated and will run its activities under the attention of the Minister for Entrepreneurship and Business Climate Delina Ibrahimaj. Her vision of bringing together the government and businesses to communicate and harmonize their contribution on law initiatives to be undertaken by the government is the right approach to understand and address the business needs and challenges.

FIAA’s Digital Economy Council organized a workshop to exchange experience, share good practices and gather ideas on preparing a concrete action plan aimed at improving the situation of human capital involved in the digital economy in Albania.

Stakeholders from a quadruple helix composed of several FIAA’s member companies, universities and technical high schools, government representatives from the ministries of education, youth, economy, and finance as well as the recently founded agency for startups, and civil society, contributed to a valuable discussion enriched by different perspectives. As clearly stated by FIAA’s representatives, the aim is not to produce one further policy paper to be added to several dozen papers already addressing the skills gap in the human capital in Albania, but to propose a set of concrete recommendations that can be implemented by the involved stakeholders in the next future.

Vice Chairman of FIAA, Constantin von Alvensleben spoke on behalf of FIAA at the closing event of the Global Entrepreneurship Week organized by the Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and Business Climate Delina Ibrahimaj. Vice Chairman von Alvensleben expressed FIAA’s appreciation for a wonderful and fruitful week which highlighted opportunities and needs and put a focus on talent people with ideas aiming at establishing new businesses in Albania.

FIAA strongly encourages its member companies and all the business community in Albania to actively denounce corruption related to state institutions.

How to do this?

Please read the Guide prepared by the Ministry of Justice of Albania and use the channel that is deemed most appropriate for your specific case.

As it was referred in the Business Ethics Conference, the denunciation can also occur anonymously.

FIAA is delighted to have successfully concluded the conference organized together with the Ministry of Justice on the topic “Mapping Good Anti-Corruption Practices Across Foreign Businesses in Albania and Beyond”.  This event gathered the FIAA Business community, the Ministry of Justice, the National Anticorruption Directory, International partners such as the OSCE, OECD, EBRD, and other business organizations.

Corruption is a pervasive global issue that inflicts immeasurable costs in terms of human suffering, extending well beyond the financial losses incurred through bribery, embezzlement, or fraud. It manifests in a myriad of ways, ranging from the abuse of public positions by government officials and public authorities to businesses engaging in bribery and illicit profit-seeking. In either scenario, the ultimate burden falls upon the citizens and the public at large, resulting in diminished access to essential services in their daily lives.

FIAA’s Management Team received in the FIAA premises Ms. Céline Hericher, Deputy Head of the Regional Economic Department for Western Balkans, at the French Embassy in Serbia. Ms. Hericher was interested to hear about the business climate and the business opportunities that Albania might offer to French companies potentially considering the country as a place to invest after the recent high-level visit of president of Emmanuel Macron. Executive Director of FIAA, Ms. Marinela Jazoj informed the guest about FIAA’s Advocacy and Interlocutor work as well as its different initiatives including the White Book, the Business Climate Survey, the Energy conference and the Business Ethics conference. In this framework, the exchange with the French Business Community is expected to become stronger.

The Foreign Investors Association of Albania in cooperation with the Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and Business Climate, Mrs. Delina Ibrahimaj and the presence of the Prime Minister of Albania, Mr. Edi Rama organized a roundtable discussion in support of the Global Entrepreneurship Week in Albania.

The discussion brought together Executives of some top companies that are strongly engaged in innovation.