TIRANA, Nov. 15 – Improving the conditions for entrepreneurship by 10 percent could add $6.7 billion, equal to 55 percent of the GDP, to the Albanian economy, says a report published by U.S.-based Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute.
The 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Index measuring both the quality of entrepreneurship in a country and the extent and depth of the supporting entrepreneurial ecosystem, rates start-up skills as Albania’s strongest area in a 14-pillar performance which also includes the tech sector, internationalization, human capital, high growth, competition etc.
Risk acceptance and product innovation are rated as Albania’s weakest areas.
Albania ranked 80th out of 137 countries globally in the 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Index, GEI, losing 4 places from last year and continuing leaving behind only Bosnia and Herzegovina among its regional competitors.
The index measuring the health of the entrepreneurship ecosystems in 137 countries shows Albania achieved an overall GEI score of 23 on a 0 to 100 point scale. Albania scored 57 percent on individual indicators capturing the characteristics of individuals in the entrepreneurship ecosystem and 35 percent in institutional indicators measuring the qualities of the social, political and economic institutions in the entrepreneurship ecosystem.
“Entrepreneurial ecosystems support innovative, productive, and rapidly growing new ventures. They consist of multiple interactive elements, all of which need to be in sync in order for innovative and high-growth firms to prosper. Such firms also need skilled employees. They need access to technology, a well-functioning infrastructure, specialized advice and support, access to finance, business premises and a supportive regulatory framework,” says the report.
