TIRANA, Dec. 19- The recent report of the World Economic Forum, an important and prestigious publication that serves a guide of knowledge to potential investors as well as international bodies such as the EU, has ranked Albania in the 107th place as far as its economic productivity is concerned, using declining indicators of competitiveness and efficiency. For 2007, Albania is listed alongside very poor performing counties such as Bangladesh , Benin , Nicaragua and Cambodia . The Albanian Center for International Trade (ACIT) has analyzed the report, bringing to light some of the reasons of this negative assessment. Its executive head, Selim Belortaja, notes the distorted trade balance where exports are four times the volume of imports and the economic openness of the country remains low at around 30 percent.
Competitiveness and well-being- a direct relationship
Competitiveness is defined as the total of institutions, policies and other factors that influence and determine the level of productivity of a country. The latter is directly connected to the well-being of the citizens. An economy which is fairly competitive secures better living standards for its beneficiaries. The report converges also with the Eurostat report measuring national revenues. A country with non-functional institutions and ranking third in the world as far as corruption is concerned has been judged vulnerable to static situations such as unemployment and poverty.
Services and tourism
on the decline
According to ACIT, the services sector, as well as tourism, have shown declining signs of competitiveness. Tourism revenues compared to expenses have shown narrowing gaps. The total services balance remains negative. The orientation of Albanian consumption towards overwhelming imports has also deepened the trade deficit. During this period, record levels of the trade balance included a deficit of 1.5 million euro, 25 percent higher than last year.
Albania, the target of
consequent negative reports
A series of international reports for Albania in 2007 have all reflected a deteriorating situation. The Albanian economy seems to be having significant problems. The report on Tourism development ranks Albania last in the global scale, as does the environmental report exposing serious environmental issues in the country. Despite the priority given to the sector of tourism, as a significant contributor of GDP and generator of income, the tourism infrastructure ranks 122nd in the world according to the report. Even the Corruption Perceptions Index was negative for Albania.
Deterioration from last year
While during 2006 Albania ranked 98th, during this year the ranking has been harsher placing it 11 spots further down in 107th place. The change has come not from the improvement in other countries, but mainly due to the fall in the indicators for Albania. Hence, in the evaluation for innovative practices, Albania rank among the last ones in the list, and for infrastructure Albania ranks 124th, reflecting the need for changes. Even the institutions have had their share of negative assessment, ranking 14 out of 131.
