TIRANA, Dec. 2 – Two Albanian business association are pushing to register and equip Albanian farmers with electronic cards in an effort to formalize the agricultural sector so they can benefit from support schemes.
“The Farmers’ Electronic Register and Card are useful and innovative tools to contribute to the development of the agricultural sector and reduce its informality,” says Swiss Ambassador Christoph Graf whose government is supporting the improvement of the business climate in Albania. “Major changes are more sustainable, if they are introduced in a gradual manner and are better accepted, if they build on both, an approach of sticks and carrots,” he added.
With support from the Italian government, Albania has started the preparation of a national electronic farm register, a comprehensive database with the latest information on the agricultural sector in the country. Registered farmers will then be issued an electronic card that can be used to benefit from VAT exemption, subsidies, and other support schemes.
According to assessments done Biznes Albania and the Albanian Agribusiness Council (KASH), if the agricultural sector is supported correctly there is a potential for 10,000 jobs for young people in the first 3 months, and the possibility to generate up to 100,000 jobs for the rural population in the next few years.
The Albanian government has recently unveiled a package of incentives for the agriculture sector, urging entrepreneurs and farmers to cooperate with each other and join their fragmented land parcels into cooperatives so that they can benefit funding of up to $1 million.
Agriculture, a sector which employs around half of the country’s population but provides only 20 percent of the GDP, is one of the least productive sectors in Albania’s economy. Although it has been the sector with the most stable growth in the past six global crisis years, the Albanian economy continues remaining largely dependent on agriculture imports which are around six times higher compared to exports.
