News

Mining Industry issues

In the framework of the cooperation among FIAA Committee of Mining, Oil and Gas Members and the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative in Albania, the FIAA Members have been very active in response to the implementation of the International EITI Standards in the country. Being part of the-Institutional Working Group, they have been part of the steering and co-coordinating structure for the EITI issues in Albania.

In this ambit, they met in early June with the Validation Team from EITI International Secretariat in Oslo, who visited Albania in order to monitor and review the EITI work in Albania. During the roundtable, the present businesses discussed about the better functioning of the Interagency Working Group (MSG) and the continuous improvement of Albanian Legislation in the focused sectors along with concrete results and impact of this process in all institutions, especially in mining industry areas, communities’ areas, relations with interest groups and civil society, etc.

“EU Transit, Tirana Farm” is a Fancy Event hold on May 19th-20th, which aimed at the promotion of the Albanian products to the invited Entrepreneurs from European Enterprise Network and was organized under the care of the Municipality of Tirana and Ministry of Economy.

In frame of the promotion of foreign investments in the country, FIAA organized a Business Networking Event which had in its focus the Project presentation of Trans Adriatic Pipeline – TAP. The Chairman of FIAA, Mr. Pedrazzi during his opening word expressed that: “I think FIAA, in fulfilling its mission has also the obligation to bring to public attention, the success of businesses and the achievements of its members. In TAP’s case, I should emphasize not only the grandeur of this work, but also the quality of this project, as the largest investment ever made in Albania, and also emphasize all the other positive effects on society, especially for local communities, through social investments made by TAP”.

FIAA holds the General Assembly Elections

In March 28th, FIAA hold the General Assembly Meeting of the Members and conducted election process for four new Board Members including the Appointment of the Chairman of FIAA for the next two years.

In his opening speech the President of FIAA, Mr. Silvio Pedrazzi highlighted some of the main achievements and challenges he had during his Chairmanship and emphasized the importance of the Organization as the best Instrument for the Foreign Investors in Albania. Mr. Pedrazzi did also thank the members for the support and trust given to his mandate and expressed his will to further continue his mission on representing FIAA as Chairman even for the next two years.

By end of March, the EBRD Board of Directors visited Albania and met government representatives, entrepreneurs and civil society organizations.

The purpose of the visit was to bring the Directors, up to date with the progress of transition, as well as to allow them to witness the impact of the Bank’s activities on this process and to become better acquainted with the domestic, foreign business and diplomatic communities in these countries.

To date, the EBRD has invested €1 billion in 77 projects in Albania. Infrastructure and energy are the largest sectors of EBRD investments, reflecting both the country’s most pressing needs and strongest potential.

Other EBRD priorities in Albania according to the current country strategy (2016-2019) include supporting private sector competitiveness, building on the strong entrepreneurial spirit in the economy, strengthening regional infrastructure linkages, enhancing the commercialization of state-owned enterprises and promoting sustainable energy and environmentally sound investments.

In late March 2017, the Executive Team of FIAA met with the Ambassador of USA in Tirana, Mr. Donald Lu. This meeting was in the course of other meetings FIAA is having with High Governmental, Internationals and Diplomats in Albania, mainly focused on the recent developments in the business environment of the country and exchange of views for related support. During the Meeting with Ambassador Lu, The Chairman of FIAA highlighted the main findings of the FIAA recent Survey and expressed his readiness for closer cooperation with the Embassy in particular for good implementation of the Justice Reform as one of the preconditions for a better business climate in the country. On the other side, Ambassador Lu thanked FIAA for the good job done and suggested for stronger cooperation between FIAA and American Businesses in Albania.

In late March, a group of Executive Directors, members of the Board of the World Bank Group, visited Albania with the purpose to assess the Bank Group’s engagement in the energy sector and efforts to support regional connectivity. Increasing regional cooperation and plans to improve connectivity within Western Balkans started in 2014 with support from the World Bank Group and the European Union.

During their visit, the WB Directors met with key Executives of the Albanian Government and discussed Albania’s progress and challenges in the energy sector and shared views on facilitating energy exchange through the establishment of organized electricity markets and the prospects for expanding regional integration. As well, it was discussed the impact of World Bank Group financed operations, like the Power Sector Recovery Program, on energy sector reforms within the Government’s broader structural reform agenda.

Part of the WB Executive Directors’ Agenda was a meeting with private sector’s representatives, where FIAA was represented by its Chairman, Mr. Pedrazzi. In the meeting it was discussed on challenges to a competitive and efficient energy sector and how the World Bank can assist in addressing these constraints.

The World Bank Group has a large lending and guarantee portfolio in Albania, including International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) financing of US$615 million, an International Finance Corporation Portfolio of US$187 million, including funds mobilized from its partners, and a Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency portfolio of US$214 million.

European Commission’s DG NEAR is a project implemented by Particp GmBh aiming to inform the public in EU member states about the progress that countries who are candidates and potential candidates for EU membership are making in fundamental areas, such as fight against corruption and organized crime, economic development etc.

FIAA Executive Director participated in a Business lunch with several journalists from different EU member states who visited Albania this February, in frame of promoting a better understanding of the EU’s enlargement process and offer insights into the key reforms in the candidate countries and potential candidates for future EU membership. The February’s study visit to Albania focused on economic governance and rule of law as key enablers for a conductive business environment and opportunities in the country.

Being one of the key organizations in the country, FIAA was picked as one of the main representatives of the business community in Albania expected to share views and perspectives with the EU Journalists. During her presentation, Mrs. Jazoj made a broader picture of Albanian potentials and challenges providing also information into a broader perspective for the investment opportunities and areas where work should go on.

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is emerging as a new industry in Albania with a good potential on attracting big corporates around the world, seeking for countries with low cost of labour. This sector is recently under the attention of the Albanian Government too, aiming to turn it as a sector with high potential in particular for the youth employment.

In February 20th-23rd, 2017, FIAA together with AIDA and Albanian Outsourcing Association participated with a Promotional stand in CCW Fair Berlin. This participation was enabled with the support of Swiss Embassy in Tirana through the Project RisiAlbania. The entire Team has been continuously consulted by Avasant Experts who are appointed by RisiAlbania to support the BPO Sector and the Organizations who work with it. The presentation of FIAA in CCW Berlin was very important not only for the gained Networks, but also for learning new models in this industry which is in the early stages in Albania.

In February 15^th, FIAA presented the findings of the 2016 Business Environment Survey and Perceptions of Business for 2017. Foreign Investors, International Institutions, High Diplomats and other Stakeholders in Albania were invited to learn on the findings and to hear the different perspectives shared by the FIAA Executives, by the Ambassador of EU Delegation in Albania and by the Minister of Finance.

The main findings of the Survey showed that this study was conducted with the participation of the major foreign companies operating in our country, summarizing their perceptions and attitudes towards the different elements of the business climate such as, tax procedures, business confidence, competition, judiciary, etc. According to the survey, the overall business confidence of investors didn’t show any improvement compared to the previous year, however, the majority of businesses say that their business activity for 2016 has increased despite the not good perception of business climate in general.