Launching of the Investment Council in Albania

On April 15th 2015, the Investment Council of Albania was launched at a high-profile event in Tirana, which gathered key decision-makers from the business community, as well as government officials and representatives of international financial institutions. The main objective of the Investment Council will be to tackle impediments to investment and to foster both domestic and foreign investment in Albania.

Ahead of the launch, the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, called the event an important milestone for Albania. The Council will serve as a bridge between the business community and the government and will become a catalyst, helping to create the right business environment for investments. He also expressed confidence that with EBRD’s help Albania will make rapid progress towards economic prosperity.

In his speech, Mr. Alan Rousso, said that The Investment Council is not meant to replace the activity of any government ministry, agency or institution. Instead, it is designed to provide a platform for dialogue between the private sector and the Albanian authorities, with the ultimate aim of leveraging the private sector’s experience to enhance the content and prioritisation of policy reforms. The Investment Council will also strengthen the private sector’s and civil society’s role in monitoring the effectiveness of the Government’s activity in the area of governance reform.

The independent Investment Council plays an important role in the implementation of objectives set in the Memorandum of Understanding signed by EBRD President Sir Suma Chakrabarti and Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama in February 2014.

Albania was the first country to sign up to the ICGI. Since then, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine have joined the Initiative.