News

FIAA has recently celebrated the 15th Anniversary of its creation. Foreign Business Community members and the Highest Representatives of the Albanian Government were gathered in a special place and a friendly atmosphere. On this occasion, the Members who have trusted FIAA for 15 years, were given special Awards in the presence of the Prime Minister of Albania.

    The awarded businesses who have accompanied FIAA throughout its Journey are Albanian American Enterprise Fund, Coca Cola Bottling Shqiperia, Fushe Kruje Cement Factory, Vodafone Albania, Deloitte Albania, KPMG Albania, Intesa Sanpaolo Bank, Tirana Bank, Procredit Bank and Boga Associates.

Special thanks go to the Sponsors of the 15th Anniversary Event: First Investment Bank,  Bankers Petroleum Albania and INTERSIG- Vienna Insurance Group.

Thank you for your continuous trust!

Being in an era of different undertaken economic reforms, during March –April 2015,  FIAA conducted the “Business Environment” survey in cooperation with members of the association as well as other partners (such as Foreign Embassies and Chambers of Commerce) consisting in 91 successful face to face Interviews. The main focus was on gathering feedback and opinions on the business environment in Albania. Survey results will help FIAA identify the problems and challenges faced by investors, which should be addressed for government policies in order to improve the business environment in the country.

INTPOW, a networking organization in Norway founded to promote cooperation between Norwegian and foreign players in the renewable energy industry in June 3rd made a business visit to Albania to get informed on the new business opportunities in the Renewable Energy.

Part of the agenda, was a Meeting with the Minister of Energy and Industry Mr. Gjiknuri and his Team.

The New Law for Strategic Investments was recently discussed with the stakeholders and approved. As stressed by Minister Ahmetaj during the session of the Economy Parliamentary Commission, the new law is expected to increase investments in the mining sector, transport, tourism and agriculture.

The new law on foreign investments predicts the administrative procedures and regulations, which will facilitate and accelerate the investment procedures. The law aims to attract and boost public and private investments and offer more easing procedures for local and foreign investors.

The Government of Albania (GOA) has taken good steps to creating new Technical and Economic Development Areas (TEDAs), considering this a highly effective and competitive instrument for promoting domestic investment and attract foreign investments.

According to the Law, the term “Technical and Economic Development Areas”, means “Free Zone” with respects to the customs code of Albania.

“Attracting FDI-s in Agro processing, Tourism and ICT”

FIAA and RISI Albania organized the Launching Conference of a Joint Initiative on “Attracting Foreign Investments in Agro-processing, Tourism and ICT Sectors”. This initiative is a joint cooperation between FIAA and RISI Albania with the main goal to promote the Albanian potentials in the sectors of Agro-processing, Tourism and ICT to all those foreign Investors who are interested to invest in Albania.

This cooperation consists in the close collaboration among stakeholders, such as: Albanian Local Businesses, local Business associations, Bilateral Chambers of Commerce, AIDA, Ministry of Agriculture as well as Foreign Embassies in Albania. The Action is funded by SWISS EMBASSY in Albania and it is a co-financed two years initiative between RISI Albania and FIAA, where RISI is the main supporter.

Read More

The shadow economy is recognized as one of the biggest challenges for economic growth in Southeast Europe. The conference aimed to create a platform for cooperation to suppress shadow economy and establish the mechanism in the form of regular annual meetings between all key actors. The conference has provided an opportunity to agree the agenda for combating shadow economy – one of the major obstacles for development of business sector and better climate for foreign investments in Southeast Europe.

The long-term effects on the economy and options for market control and protection through efficient and fair tax and customs policies, as well as labor and market policies were the key issues and topics that were addressed at the conference.

Read More

On April 15^th 2015 in Tirana it was hold the launching ceremony of the Investment Council at the presence of the Albanian senior authorities, EBRD’s officials and representatives from the business community. This Council is expected to provide a platform for public-private dialogue, bringing together businesses and policymakers to tackle investment climate-related challenges in a systematic and results-oriented manner.

The European Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn met representatives of the business community and civil society during a visit to Tirana on 23-24 March.

Tirana, March 20th, 2015
FIAA and the Business Alliance of Slovakia –BAS organized the Launching Conference of the Project on “Improving Business Environment in Albania”. The goal of the project is to improve the business environment of the country as a key element for raising the Albanian economic growth and reducing its poverty.

The Project implementation will be done through transfer of know-how and expert knowledge from Slovakia including elaboration of comparative analysis of business environment barriers, sharing of details on the most important reforms implemented in recent years in Slovakia, and establishment of effective tools for systematic monitoring and analyzing of business environment quality.