Dear Speaker of the Assembly, Dear Members of Parliament,

Today the Assembly of Albania will vote on the draft law for some additions and changes to the law “On the creation and functioning of the National Economic Council”.

This law, approved in the parliament since 2014, had as its goal the raising to the highest level of consultation with the private sector, to guarantee institutional cooperation, public-private partnership, the development of economic policies, dialogue between parties and consultation between state administration bodies and the private sector, with the aim of increasing transparency in public decision-making and the representation of the private sector in this decision-making process.

The National Economic Council, since 2014, has been an advisory body for any initiative of the Government or other initiatives forwarded by the interest groups themselves, which are reviewed in a broad institutional consultation table, Consisting of:

business, their organizations, chambers of commerce, sectoral business associations, from permanent representatives in this Council, of international organizations, such as: – the International Monetary Fund, the International Financial Corporation, the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, where together with the highest representatives of the state represented by the Governor of the Bank of Albania, the Prime Minister, the Ministers responsible according to the issues dealt with in the KEC, as well as prominent personalities of the “world of economy” national and international, including the senior leaders of the tax administration and customs, have examined, dialogued and advised the Government on important topics that directly affect entrepreneurship and the business climate in our country. (such as: – State aid policies available to business towards supporting priority sectors and their coordination in fiscal and employment promotion policies (October 24, 2016) – government policies, on tax and customs procedures simplification packages where business faces, based on about 350 proposals received from the business community itself, and the creation of advocacy structures in defense of entrepreneurship (June 8, 2016) – on the consultation of tourism, bankruptcy and public services laws (January 2016) – on the government’s action against informality, the 2016 fiscal package, the 2017 fiscal package, innovation against corruption, on the problems of the technology, information and communication sector in cooperation with the association AITA – KEK participated in the Albania Oil gas and Energy 2015 summit, in the edition of 8 of the Public Private Dialogue in Denmark, etc.)

So the National Economic Council is the highest advisory body dealing with issues of great importance for the country’s economy and has been put in charge of the transparency of the Government’s policies, assuming a role that will grow and strengthen even more now that 6 the countries of the Western Balkans have decided to create a regional economic zone and we are on the verge of starting negotiations with the European Union.

In the Committee for Economy and Finance, there were discussions regarding the composition of this council, where the arguments presented by the honorable members of the committee were different, but we should not forget the fact that this law was drafted so that the KEK can establish reports on the direct connection that the Government should have with the enterprise by institutionalizing a joint structure.

The KEK has its advisory function to the Government and the Assembly of Albania for finding suitable ways to accelerate economic growth and employment and to create an encouraging legal framework for the economy, business and investments in the country.

The additions and changes proposed through this draft law have the sole function of increasing the efficiency of the National Economic Council through the establishment of a permanent technical secretariat in the function of this council, as well as changing the responsibility of this secretariat in the function of fulfilling the state responsibility of Minister of State for Defense Entrepreneurship.

The changes and additions that are proposed today do not aim at other changes in the object of the existing law.

The technical secretariat of the National Economic Council (KEK) will better fulfill the goals and objectives of the National Economic Council, as well as the protection of entrepreneurship in the framework of promoting dialogue, counseling and transparency of public decision-making.

The structure, organization and operation of the Technical Secretariat will be part of the structure of the Prime Minister’s Office.

In this way, since the goals and objectives of this secretariat come in full agreement with the objectives of the legal responsibility area of ​​the Ministry of State for the Protection of Entrepreneurship, the confidence increases that the transition of this secretariat under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and Culture will increase the efficiency of work of KEK and MSHMS.

I invite you to vote for this initiative that guarantees institutional cooperation and public-private partnership for the development of economic policies, supports entrepreneurship by increasing transparency and dialogue between state administration bodies and the private sector, and guarantees the representation of the private sector in the decision-making process public.

Thank you!