TIRANA, Sept. 5- Albania performed weaker in promoting the country to foreign investors compared to the rest of the regional countries and also has the most vague strategies in this regard. The ratings were given during a World Bank survey last year across all countries in the region to assess the investment climate and opportunities for future improvements.
Companies operating in Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo provided poor ratings of government performance in terms of attracting and promoting investments. Unclear national investment strategies and in some cases unpredictability in tax and incentive policies were some key problems found in Albania but also in the region.
53 percent of investors in Albania think that corporate tax incentives are very poor. In other countries of the Region (Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro) this percentage was much lower. Foreign companies also had the highest negative rating for Albania regarding public services to investors, etc. Montenegro on the other hand, was the best ranked country.
Foreign companies in the region identified three important factors in investment decision making, the National Foreign Investment Strategy; the predictability of tax policies; and the availability of incentives for customs duties or import VAT. About 60 percent of companies in Albania and Montenegro have expressed high concern about the lack of predictability of fiscal policies relative to other countries.
