TIRANA, February 9/ATA/ The National Trade Facilitation Committee (NTFC) held its routine meeting under chair of Minister of Finance and Economy Delina Ibrahimaj.
The participants in this meeting discussed on improvement of the quality and meeting the required standards for the export of Albanian products, as well as the possibility of a free trade agreement with Japan.
The Technical Secretariat of NTFC presented the relevant analyses on both issues.
Minister Ibrahimaj emphasized the importance of more dialogue between the government and business, since the common goal of both parties is the development of business, the economy and the country as a whole.
The minister said that it is necessary that, in cooperation with the chambers of commerce and business in certain sectors, there should be carried out sectoral studies on the country’s competitiveness as part of the “Open Balkans”, the “Berlin Process”, CEFTA and the process of European integration.
“I strongly believe that the model to follow should be the facilitation and maybe the subsidy of some industries, but not the support through fiscal policies, because the fiscal facilitation in certain sectors has historically led to abusive conduct and informality. We have to do these sectoral analyzes and it is good to initiate them jointly, with the chambers of commerce and with the businesses of specific sectors. We will start with agriculture because it is a sector that provides 20% of GDP and is important not only in GDP, but in employment and in the development of the country’s economy”, said Ibrahimaj.
Regarding the issue of the quality of exports, the minister said that the government has undertaken the commitment to enable evaluation by the European Union bodies for all animal-based products.
Regarding the free trade agreement with Japan, Ibrahimaj invited business associations to make their proposals for specific products, so that to be included in discussions with the Japanese state. /r.e/p.s./
