TIRANA, January 21/ATA/- The Albanian government has undertaken in recent years fiscal policies to support business, which have often been seen as an instrument for attracting foreign investment.
Minister of Finances and Economy Anila Denaj made the statement at the General Assembly of Konfindustria Albania – Association of Italian Industrialists in Albania under the topic of “Foreign Investment in Albania, Presentation of Business Guide 2020”.
Attending the event were the Italian Ambassador in Tirana Fabrizio Bucci, Minister of State for Protection of Entrepreneurship Eduard Shalsi and President of Confindustria Sergio Fontana.
Minister Denaj appreciated that presentation of the “Business Guide 2020” by Konfindustria Albania shows that the opportunities to develop more business in Albania are great, as is the economic potential of our country.
Speaking about the economic relations between Albania and Italy, Denaj said that, “They have always been at very good levels. In 2019, Italy is positioned as the first country for the flow and stock of foreign direct investments, with 32% of FDI in Albania, according to 9 month data. For the period January-September 2019, Italian investment stock in the country reached 805 million Euros, while Italian investment flow amounted to 98 million Euros.
Minister Denaj focused on attracting foreign direct investments in Albania, enabled through economic development policies, which she said need to be added a new dimension.
However, Denaj stressed the need for predictability of fiscal and economic development policies in the medium run.
“We need to create opportunities for the whole fiscal regime to be easier, simpler to understand and apply, and not to then create spaces for informality and evasion, which often create unfair competition. In this respect, we think that simplifying fiscal policies will also help in the fight against informality. Last year we worked with the IMF to prepare a mid-term revenue program to enable us to secure a more sustainable fiscal policy and to revise it a little slower, at least 3-5 years,” said Denaj.
Regarding the role of the institutions in attracting foreign investments, the minister praised the work done by the Albanian Investment Development Agency in relation to foreign investors.
During her speech, Minister Denaj focused on the latest initiatives being undertaken by the government, which will affect the facilitation of business in the country, such as: the Digital Services Revolution, which will shorten procedures and time for business; the law on Fiscalisation which aims to combat informality, evasion and fair competition in the market, as well as the unified Investment Law, which will provide more security for foreign and domestic investors.
A well-trained workforce is important for attracting foreign investors. In this regard, Minister Denaj affirmed that Albania is attractive for investors and the government’s attention to vocational education schools in the country is constantly on the increase./k.s//a.a/p.s./
