Foreign businesses are watching the political climate closely, and Albania stands to lose if the political crisis continues.
TIRANA, June 8 – The longer political leaders take to find a solution to Albania’s political crisis, the higher the costs will be for the country’s economy, international representatives said this week.
The crisis projects instability and makes Albania less desirable for foreign investors, according to OSCE Ambassador Robert Bosch.
At a meeting of donors and government representatives, Bosch said foreign businesses are watching the political climate closely, and they want it to end as soon as possible as a way to create a more favorable climate for their investments.
Donors hope the political environment will encourage the proper implementation of approved programs, he said, adding donors think that there is still work to do in having a proper investment climate in Albania.
There is currently a study of the procurement system in Albania, and the donors are waiting for its results to understand whether the tender situation has improved.
Donors also expressed concern for the timely reimbursement of the Value Added Tax by the government. Although the government has changed laws giving companies an advantage in time to return money belonging to them, again, this process does not function properly, causing the government to remain indebted to both domestic and international investors.
Albania’s government has made attracting foreign investors one of its priorities, setting aside nearly $1 million to lobby around the world for improving Albania’s image and attracting foreign investors.
Some of the money will also be used to attract funds from donor programs such as those offered by the Millennium Challenge Corporation.
However, here too, the political crisis is putting millions of dollars at risk.
Albania has benefited about 28 million euros in funding from the Millennium Challenge Threshold Program, but the continuation of projects funded by this program is now in serious jeopardy due to the absence of the Administrative Courts law from Albania’s legislation.
The never-ending saga the Administrative Courts bill has gone through due to Albania’s political stalemate is bringing serious consequences.
“In the coming months, Albania will have to show that it has managed to establish the necessary infrastructure and to demonstrate whether it is able to qualify for funding under another program as assistance by the U.S. government. But it seems that Albania has little chance to benefit again because the current program has not completed one of the most important projects — the Administrative Courts,” said USAID’s head in Tirana, Joseph Williams, who was speaking at a Business Forum with sustaining members of the American Chamber of Commerce, according the chamber’s magazine.
The administrative courts, which make it easier for companies to solve disputes with the government when it comes to taxes and other issues, were supposed to be approved through a law before the summer elections. But approval was delayed.
The new draft law is now ready to go, and the ruling parties say they’ll vote for it, but the opposition must vote on it too before it can pass.
And with Albania’s Socialist Party continuing to boycott the parliament, the draft law has become frozen, together with all other legislation that requires a certain number of votes to pass.
