First Economic Forum addresses global crisis impact in Albania

PM Berisha, BoA Governorer, and the Head of Chamber of Commerce addressed the forum
“The global financial crisis is having its first effects in the Albanian economy. Given the situation, the government should take the necessary steps to boost domestic production.” Ardian Fullani, Bank of Albania Governor, gave his declaration during his speech at the First Economic Forum held by Chamber of Commerce. On the other hand, he insisted that Albanian banking system is healthy and the domino effects of the global crisis have been properly addressed.
“The global crisis, even though has yet to be felt in our country, has given us its first lectures and business should learn from these lessons in order to face the future. It is time for Albania to produce more goods then before, but there is always the need for better orientation and regulations,” said Fullani.
According to him, the end of the 2008 and the early 2009 will be a difficult period and dealing with the crisis will take its time and toll.
“Our priority is to take the necessary steps that will minimize the negative effect. Our challenge is to keep a steady economic growth, and BoA is fully engaged to find the best measures.”
The governor suggested that the future should be approached from a more realistic point of view by bringing to attention the government’s role in economic growth in general and in business development in particular.
“The state should be more active with certain reforms such as property rights.” insisted Fullani.
Meanwhile, PM Berisha declared that Albania is one of the few European countries to experience a double-digit growth in the face of the global crisis.
“I don’t exclude the possibility of the crisis affecting us, but I also see the opportunity for us to attract more foreign investments in our country. There is no better place to invest than where there is economic growth. This is why we are working against the crisis, and the best measures, I think, are to create a more favorable environment for business and for investors.” Said Berisha
During his speech, Mr. Gjok Uldedaj, Head of Chamber of Commerce, said that one of the steps that the Albanian government should take in order to develop the country’s agriculture sector and increase its competitiveness was the creation of government policies that would help the farmers to focus on “bio” type agricultural products.