Albania Investment Council: Main News, January -June 2020
- January 18, 2023
WHAT NEEDS TO BE FURTHER IMPROVED IN THE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE BUSINESS AND THE MUNICIPALITIES
January 27th, 2020
Chaired by the Minister of Finance and Economy, Ms Anila Denaj, the meeting convened together key stakeholders in the field. The objective of the analysis for this meeting was to stimulate the debate based on the identification of problems related to the interaction between the business and the municipalities, with a focus on transparency on local taxes and tariffs, approved decisions of municipal councils, services benefited by the business (balance, quality of services, standard), as well as the role of municipalities in the economic development and investment promotion at the local level.
RESPONSE OF SECRETARIAT OF INVESTMENT COUNCIL TO SUPPORT BUSINESSES DURING COVID-19 EMERGENCY SITUATION
April 9th, 2020
To assist the business community in the country, as well as IC partners, the Secretariat prepared and published weekly updates and integrated summaries of key acts and applicable measures taken in the frame of coronavirus pandemic. These documents included both restrictive measures and stimulus measures in the frame of the financial package approved by the Government from time to time. In addition, the Secretariat designed and launched a survey on the ‘Impact Assessment of Consequences deriving from COVID-19 Pandemic on Business Activity in Albania,’ for the purpose of identifying issues and suggestions from the business perspective.
INVESTMENT COUNCIL HOLDS EMERGENCY MEETING TO DISCUSS IMPACT OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC ON THE BUSINESS
April 14th, 2020
This emergency meeting was convened by the Minister of Finance and Economy, and it was attended by all IC members. Minister Anila Denaj said that this meeting intended timely dialogue among stakeholders through the format of the Investment Council, already established as a permanent public-private dialogue platform for addressing imminent business concerns. During the meeting, references were made by all the members on the preliminary findings of the survey conducted online by the IC Secretariat prior to this meeting.
INVESTMENT COUNCIL PROMOTES INTER-INSTITUTIONAL COLLABORATION THROUGH COORDINATION OF WORKING GROUPS IN PRIORITY SECTORS OF THE ECONOMY
May 29th, 2020
To support businesses with facing new challenges caused by Covid-19 pandemic, in the last meeting (14 April 2020) of the Investment Council (IC), Minister Denaj called on donors and IC members to support the government and businesses by reshaping the initiative taken by the IC during 2019 (where three joint technical working groups were established with three line ministries), requesting additional contribution by the IC with concrete proposals for the recovery of the country’s economy. During February-March 2020, the work started with putting into function these working groups. In addition, upon request by Minister of Finance and Economy, Ms Anila Denaj (IC Chair), the Secretariat of the Investment Council was engaged with the setting up of two new working groups with the main objective of accelerating the implementation of some IC recommendations approved during the meeting “On the interaction between the municipalities and the business”.
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF INVESTMENT COUNCILS: UNDERSTANDING CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES TO QUICKLY SUPPORT BUSINESSES AND GOVERNMENTS
June 3rd, 2020
Virtual Conference of the Investment Councils supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 2020. The annual event brought together 12 EBRD-supported Investment Councils. In the main focus of this conference was the presentation of key COVID-19 policy responses supported by the Investment Councils, where Albania Investment Council was selected as one of the case studies. In the second part of the conference, it was discussed the long-term policy responses to re-boost economic activity and build a resilient private sector.
INVESTMENT COUNCIL HOLDS PLENARY MEETING TO DISCUSS BUSINESS SUGGESTIONS ON THE COUNTRY’S ECONOMIC RECOVERY POST-COVID-19
June 5th, 2020
The Investment Council held a plenary meeting to discuss key business suggestions for the economic recovery of the country post-COVID-19. Among other, the Minister informed about the upcoming MFE proposals to the government to address economic recovery in the near future, like the medium-term revenue strategy and economic development measures with a focus on SMEs, priority sectors, and employment. She informed that the Investment Council was asked to provide support in collecting proposals by the business operating in various economic sectors so that the Recovery Plan includes before its formal presentation, some of these proposals. This is in line with the ambitions and commitment of the Albanian Government to present within June 2020 the plan of economic recovery and more specifically, the recovery of priority sectors such as tourism and manufacturing.
CONTINUING WORK WITH THE WORKING GROUPS
During June 2020, the Secretariat continued to coordinate the work of the working groups between MFE-MARD and MFE-MIE, to accelerate the process of following up the implementation IC recommendations to stimulate investments in the sectors of agriculture and ICT, but also to discuss the recovery of these sectors post-COVID-19. During these discussions, concrete measures have been proposed for the prioritization of the interventions, based also on suggestions raised by the business itself, which progress the Secretariat will monitor closely. MORE INFORMATION TO FOLLOW IN THE FUTURE.
ABOUT ALBANIA INVESTMENT COUNCIL
Investment Council is a platform set up by the Albanian authorities with support from the EBRD to intensify the dialogue between the government and the private sector, improve the business climate and promote good governance. The work of the Council is supported by a Secretariat, an independent body of professionals selected and contracted by the EBRD to directly engage with the business community. Investment Council is supported by the Ministry of Finance and Economy, EBRD, and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).
