Democrats campaign on employment

TIRANA, March 31 – Albania’s governing Democratic Party held a convention last Saturday in which promotion of employment, some 250,000 new jobs, were the main topic of discussion.
Prime Minister Sali Berisha, also leader of the Democrats, spoke on some initiatives that are expected to be launched about the labor market. He has also discussed them with the representatives of the labor offices, heads of regions who have already used some new instruments of activating the labor market, the representatives of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and academicians.
Berisha pledged the creation of 250,000 new jobs in the four years to come if the governing Democrats stay in power for the third mandate. The opposition Socialists has pledged 300,000 new jobs.
According to official INSTAT data, in net terms, Albania has not added more than 10,000 jobs in the past four years. And independent analysts say both sides in the elections are making exaggerated promises on employment.
However, Berisha said that during the last four years they have already created 200,000 new jobs at a time when they had pledged 160,000.
He said that the reform of the labor market aims to increase efficiency in employment services and adaptation of the unemployment benefits into employment incentives. Berisha has referred to the German concept of Hartz and its implementation in Albanian reality. It consists of a set of recommendations on reform to the Albanian labor market, the establishment of the one-stop-shop centers, deregulation of the labor market, the removal of limitations on part time job, the automatic renewal of the work agreement of the 52 year-old age group and older, financing the start of a small business, the creation of new types of employment through tax reduction.
He said that the adaptation of this concept in Albania becomes possible following implementation of the fiscal and administrative reforms including the reduction of several taxes to support business development and creation of new jobs; the completion of digitalization of the employment service; the successful piloting of some similar instruments in the labor market; the application of the employment programs already appreciated for their impact; support for the social business, similar to minijob and midijob; the participation of the local government into employment programs; reform in the social assistance system, combined with the employment services; the drafting of amendments to the Labor Code on space of the part time work agreements.
Berisha also pledged that some $16 billion will come as investment in the country in the next four year mandate (Albania’s annual GDP is about $13 billion), and the government would increase subsidizing of agriculture, fishing, livestock and agro-business.
Pledges continued with the figure of some 7 million tourists and visitors, 30 percent more employment in tourism, seven tax-free years for investment in the mountain regions and more. “Employment, creation of new jobs, and better salaries are the major goal of any reform, any decision, any effort in the Democratic Party’s program,” said Berisha.