News

In response of the FIAA White Book Recommendations, an intensive 6 months’ work has been made by the working groups, from both, the Ministry of Finance and the FIAA Experts.  During a discussion meeting with the Minister of Finance Mrs. Delina Ibrahimaj, at the presence of the Prime Minister Mr. Edi Rama, it was highlighted the role of FIAA with the proposed White Book recommendations, in total 138 recommendations out of which the Minister confirmed that 67 are in consultation process.

In July 12^th, the Ministry of Justice started consultation on the draft law “On personal data protection”. In this meeting, FIAA was represented by Vodafone Albania. As a follow up, FIAA has submitted to the Ministry of Justice a set of comments collected from various industries under FIAA affected by this draft law.

BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT SURVEY FINDINGS

ALBANIA 2021-2022

Judicial System, Transparency, Corruption, Bureaucracy & Unfair Competition remain the main obstacles of the Doing Business in Albania

July 13th: Today, FIAA presented the findings of the Business Environment Survey (BES 2021-2022), which was conducted during spring 2022 within FIAA members and investors network in the country.

Main respondents of this Survey were important foreign businesses in the country in the sectors of financial services, energy and oil, telecommunications, consulting, trade etc. The Survey findings were presented at the presence of the Minister of Finance and Economy, Mrs. Delina Ibrahimaj, along with other distinguished guests and diplomatic representatives in Albania.

Following up the engagement of the Ministry of Finance and Economy to intervene for the improvement of the business climate in the country, during the months of April, May and June 2022 have been organized several technical working meetings with business community experts and professionals treating more than 80 concerns covering a wide range of laws on:  Tax, Hydrocarbons and Fiscal Regime, Fiscalization, Concessions, Renewable Energy, Pension Funds Law, Banking Regulatory Framework, etc.

FIAA’s commitment and efforts to improving the doing business environment in Albania, is the main pillar of its work. During the National Conference on Anticorruption, hold in Tirana in June 13^th– 15^th, FIAA’s President Mr. Alessandro D’Oria, during his word in the session: Business associations’ role in promoting good governance and fighting corruption spoke on behalf of FIAA by sharing experience and insights in fighting corruption. Mr. D’Oria highlighted the importance of the fight against corruption along with further needed reforms and digitalization, as fundamental to improve business environment in the country.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) together with the World Bank (WB) have prepared the Country Private Sector Diagnostics (CPSD) Report. The sector assessments included in the CPSD for Albania, conducted with significant input from teams across the World Bank Group and from external partners including governments, provides valuable information on the challenges and opportunities in three sectors: tourism, agribusiness and auto-parts industry and policy options to better leverage the contribution of the private sector in achieving Albania’s development objectives.

For more information please visit: https://pressroom.ifc.org/all/pages/PressDetail.aspx?ID=27037 

The Albania Investment Council (IC) held a plenary meeting to discuss on the private sector’s concerns and recommendations for the improvement of the public consultation process. The meeting was chaired by the Minister of Finance and Economy, Mrs Delina Ibrahimaj, and by several business organizations ‘representatives.

In this meeting, FIAA was represented by the Executive Director Ms Marinela Jazoj and by the Newest Board Member Mr Sokol Elmazaj.

At the conclusion of the IMF mission in Albania conducted recently, the Team Leader, Ms. Sun issued the following statement:

“The sharp increase in food and energy prices as well as rising external funding costs following the war in Ukraine present the third major shock hitting the Albanian economy in recent years. Growth in 2022 is projected at about 3 percent, supported by tourism and construction but moderated by the impact of rising prices. Inflation has increased to considerably above the 3 percent target of the central bank and is becoming broad-based. It is expected to remain at a high level in the coming months—driven by import prices—before falling back to the target towards early 2024, reflecting the impact of monetary policy tightening.

FIAA’s Team of Experts met on May 13th, 2022 to discuss on the progress of the ongoing working discussions on the White Book Chapters’ recommendations. The meeting was organized at the request of the Coordinator from the Office of the Minister of Finances and Economy, Ms. Erblina Shehu, in charge of the consultations process!

The fourth edition of Tirana Economic Forum entitled “Albania’s leading role for Regional Development in the Western Balkans” was held on May 10^th, 2022 in Tirana and has successfully concluded with the participation of 35 speakers and more than 250 participants, where FIAA was the main Local Partner of the Forum and the Executive Director Ms. Marinela Jazoj led the important panel entitled Creating a Healthy Investment Environment in Albania: Banking Consolidation, Real Estate and Tourism.