Prime Minister Edi Rama shared in the social media an informative video message made with artificial intelligence technology, which announces that the program is open to all businesses that have a growth plan, but face a lack of financing.

“Double Your Entrepreneurship is the new national super-program of financing with soft loans and state guarantees any small or medium-sized enterprise that has a growth plan and a lack of financing,” Rama wrote.

According to him, the banks are awaiting the for the enterprises to express their interest, while businesses can be further informed about the criteria and application procedures on the official platform of the program.

The informative video message said that the program offers financing of up to 200 million lekë, with sovereign guarantees of up to 70% of the loan principal, as well as preferential interest rates.

The financing will be oriented towards sectors with high development potential and added value for the Albanian economy, including agriculture, agro-processing, industry, tourism, the digital economy, energy and the green economy. /e.xh/j.p/p.s./

Minister of Economy and Innovation Delina Ibrahimaj highlighted in a post on social networks the latest OECD report, “SME Policy Index 2025”, that was made public today.

The report highlights significant progress, particularly in women’s entrepreneurship and the SME green transition. Furthermore, it recognizes our favorable business environment, with a strong emphasis on improved standards and technical regulations.

This assessment highlights a firm institutional commitment to bolstering Albania’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, prioritizing innovation, quality, and sustainable development. /e.xh/j.p/p.s./

Socialist Party MP, former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Milva Ekonomi spoke in an interview with ATA about the role and creation of the first Albanian Development Bank and the focus of support.

“The Albanian government and the entire society are committed to see the flag of Albania in 2030 in the European Union. For this objective, the government is working to fulfill the obligations and criteria that the integration process requires in several directions and processes,” said Ekonomi.

Ekonomi stated that the Development Bank will increase competitiveness in the banking sector by offering low-interest loans.

“There are 11 second-tier banks in Albania, but the Development Bank has 51% of its assets in government shares and will press the banking market by offering low-interest loans, facilitating SMEs to have more access to financing and to develop”, said Ekonomi.

Ekonomi stated that the Central Bank recently launched the new financing program of 25 billion lekë loans for SMEs and agriculture and is pioneering with creation of the Albanian Development Bank.

Ekonomi said that, together with Albanian producers, we can further improve the quality of Albanian agriculture and we can bring Albania one step closer to EU integration.

Precisely, she continued, this financing instrument (the program for SME and agriculture) will serve as a guide on how this Development Bank is conceived that will support the approximation of Albanian production with the open European market. /r.e//a.f/p.s./

Minister of Economy, Culture and Innovation Blendi Gonxhja said that the Italian-Albanian program is a golden opportunity for small and medium enterprises.

“With soft and low-interest loans, this program aims to support SMEs in investing in new technology and equipment”, emphasized Gonxhja.

In order to facilitate access to credit, this program offers a guarantee fund and technical assistance to help companies make the best use of the credit line, underlined Gonxhja.

The minister added that through this program there are encouraged growth and innovation, improvement of technological capabilities and access to financing for the SMEs. /p.s./

The program was presented today in Tirana and includes loans from the EBRD and incentives in the form of grants from the EU for small businesses in partnership with banks in the country.

SMEs will be able to apply for investments in new equipment and machinery and investments aimed at increasing productivity, reducing operational expenses, increasing energy efficiency and aligning with EU standards.

In addition to loans, businesses will benefit from incentives in the form of grants up to 15 percent of the loan, financed by the EU.

The aim is to help SMEs go beyond their usual operations and invest in being more competitive in the domestic and EU markets.

Ekaterina Solovova, director of the EBRD in Albania, said that, “Helping the private sector, especially SMEs in Albania to become more competitive and use energy more efficiently is one of our priorities here. We are happy to expand this cooperation with similar programs and to have access to as many local businesses as possible in cooperation with commercial banks”.

Hubert Perr, head of Cooperation at the Delegation of the European Union in Albania, said that, “This is a very good opportunity for SMEs to leave their special mark on the regional markets, especially in the context of the global economic situation. We will make sure that these incentives are benefited by businesses that demonstrate basic European values ​​in terms of safety, quality standards and the environment. The EU is here to support you.”

SMEs will also benefit from advisory services through the EBRD’s Small Business Advisory program. The program connects businesses with local and international consultants who work to identify challenges such as strategy, marketing, digital transformation, exports, energy efficiency, financial management, etc.

SMEs represent 99.8% of registered enterprises in Albania and generate 81.9% of employment in the country. But, in addition to their dominant position in the economy, they often suffer from a lack of competitiveness and access to financing.

The EBRD Competitiveness Support Program extends to all Western Balkan countries and aims to facilitate access to financing for SMEs in the country. More than 850 businesses have benefited from the regional program, so far.

So far, the EBRD has invested over 1.9 billion euros in Albania./p.s./

This assessment is made by the OECD, in the recently published report “SME Policy Index: Western Balkans and Turkey 2022: Assessing the Implementation of the Small Business Act for Europe.

The report estimates that since 2019, Albania has improved its performance in all 12 policy areas, thus reflecting the importance of SMEs in the government’s policy agenda.

Albania has achieved its highest average scores in the following areas: institutional and regulatory framework for SME policy making; operational environment for SMEs; public procurement; standards and technical regulations; and internationalization of SMEs, where it also outperforms the Western Balkans and Turkey (WBT) average.

The report evaluates some of the reforms made in the country. Thus, the report assesses that Albania’s operational environment for SMEs remains the most advanced in the region. The government has continued implementing digital reforms under a whole-of-government approach and made progress in both increasing the availability of digital government services and streamlining them to better fit users’ needs. Albania is the only WBT economy that has streamlined company registration and licensing under its one-stop-shop (the National Business Centre, NBC) and introduced digital distribution of licensing officials, which speeds up the process, increases transparency and lowers administrative burdens and costs for SMEs.

Important progress has been made in the area of public procurement by increasingly aligning its regulatory framework with EU requirements, adopting key strategic documents, in particular, actions concerning SMEs’ access and developments with regard to e-procurement. The new Public Procurement Law (PPL) contains provisions that are, to a very large extent, harmonized with the 2014 EU Directives and the first comprehensive National Public Procurement Strategy (2020-2023), adopted in November 2020, foresees measures and activities aimed at increasing the participation of SMEs in the public procurement market.

EU alignment and implementation support for SMEs in technical regulations and standards was expanded. Albania continued to align its quality infrastructure with the EU acquis in key areas such as metrology and is developing a roadmap to identify remaining unharmonised technical regulations. At the same time, Albania also strengthened the staff capacities of its quality infrastructure institutions and expanded a support programme for SMEs who seek certification according to European or international standards. Overall, these activities will improve the access for SMEs that need to certify their products, services or processes to conform with European standards and regulations.

Albania has made considerable progress supporting SME internationalization. By developing export support services, the government has advanced in creating an enabling environment that enhances export sophistication and innovation while also boosting export competitiveness. With a number of new support programmes implemented, additional advancements are expected regarding SME integration into global value chains (GVCs). Furthermore, cluster formation and development has steadily been progressing since the last assessment cycle. Through newly introduced programmes and extensive stakeholder consultations (with business associations and academia), the government established a wood cluster to facilitate technology and knowledge transfer within the industry.

Small and medium-sized enterprises contribute to economic performance and the sustainable and engaging development of societies.

In Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey (the seven candidate economies for the EU), they account for about three quarters of private sector employment and generate about 60% of value added of the private sector./p.s./

“Businesses will have the opportunity to expand their activity, increase their investments by taking advantage of the financial opportunities offered through grants, loans or other financing initiatives,” Minister Denaj said.

“Access to Finance” is a dynamic platform, which is easy to use and  provides exhaustive information. This platform is managed by AIDA and aims to become a unique gateway to get acquainted with all the grant funding schemes that target the Albanian Small and Medium Enterprises,” Minister Denaj said.

The platform was established by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, EBRD with the aim of supporting the Albanian Government in adopting and implementing policies and support measures for SMEs, to mitigate the negative economic impact of COVID-19. //a.i/