Investment Council Project in Albania and Kosovo (EBRD)

While economic policymaking has improved in Albania and in Kosovo, weaknesses in the business environment persist in both countries. National business surveys indicate that business environment reforms have slowed down during the last 4-5 years also due to COVID-19. Furthermore, progress on improving legal certainty for businesses has been mixed, and concerns about the effective consultation with the private sector and the consequent implementation of legislation and government strategies persist.

To improve the investment climate and economic policymaking in Albania and Kosovo, through constructive and effective public-private dialogue.

Outcome 1 – The Council as trust builder: Regular, evidence-based and constructive dialogue between public and private sector builds and/or strengthens mutual trust among key economic actors.

Outcome 2 – The Council as reform mechanism: Governments and the private sector use the Councils as an effective mechanism for sustainable growth reforms.

Outcome 3 – The Council as an implementer of quality reforms: Capacities in economic governance institutions are improved for better and more transparent policymaking, based on proper impact assessment, quality controls and evidence.

Outcome 4 – The Council as enabler for efficient policy dialogue: Business organizations manage to advocate and communicate efficiently with the government counterparts on their needs and issues of concern.

Risultati principali attesi:  

Analytical work by the Secretariats conducted to base Councils’ meetings and deliberations-

Agenda setting: annual workplans prepared by the Secretariats, on behalf of the Councils, to structure the policy dialogue-

Advocacy: proposals on investment climate reforms put forward by the Secretariats for endorsement by the Councils-

Stakeholder engagement: consultative and focus group meetings organized by the Secretariats-

Recommendations’ implementation monitored-

Follow up projects prepared, approved and implemented-

Risultati fasi precedenti:  

The Investment Council in Albania, supported by EBRD and SECO in phase I (2019-2022), delivered a number of concrete improvements to the investment climate, related e.g. to reducing the regulatory burden, investment attraction, taxation, competitiveness in agriculture and tourism, skills development. As of June 2022, the Council has endorsed 284 recommendations, 41% of them were actually implemented (at a level of 70-100%) and 14% are in process of implementation. The IC Secretariat, financed by the project, assisted the Government and business community particularly during the Covid-19 crisis to prepare balanced policy responses. In Kosovo, the EBRD supports the National Council since 2019. The Secretariat of the NCEI worked closely with the private sector in order to make a full inventory of issues raised by investors. It also prepared a comprehensive analysis and identified priority interventions necessary to improve the business environment and to foster sustainable development.