Dear Chairman of Anhui Province Chamber of Commerce, Zhan Jian,

Dear President of Klik Expo, Luan Muhametaj.

I would like to thank the Economic Mission of Anhui Province for coming, which is considered one of the economic centers with the fastest economic development, and recently is getting close enough to the markets of the Balkan Region, to get to know the opportunity and the goals closely. of long-term cooperation. I also thank the Albanian business that is present today, which as always is welcoming and ready for new challenges.

Some of the companies that have come to Albania today, being part of the TOP 20 Enterprises, are of particular importance as they constitute potential direct investors for our country.

Throughout the years, China and Albania have resolutely continued cooperation achieving fruitful results, bilateral trade has had stable development and cooperation has been achieved on several major projects. Currently, China is a country with significant investments in Albania, where the total amount of investments exceeds the value of 700 million dollars, employing thousands of local employees and making an active contribution not only to employment and tax revenues in Albania, but also influencing in promoting exchanges between the two parties in the fields of technology, market management and human resources. It is worth recalling today that China is Albania’s third largest trading partner. Based on the long-standing cooperation, whether at the fair organized by Kliko Ekspo group, or at other events, already a considerable number of Chinese companies with strong potential, with a rich international reputation and experience, are studying a series of projects in Albania, and are looking for cooperation with Albanian partners for investments in the fields of renewable energy, transport , clothing processing or agriculture. I am convinced that China’s powerful production capacities, applicable technology, combined with Albania’s advantages in the field of resources and location as well as market requirements, fully match the interests of both parties, so I think that today’s B2B between companies revenues from China and Albanian ones, which I guarantee are companies with an important name not only in Albania but in the region,

Economic growth in Albania has reached 4.5%. It has not been at these levels for over 10 years, but we can and will do even more. In June, balance of payments statistics showed that in the first quarter of 2018, foreign direct investment inflows in Albania reached 284 million euros, a significant annual increase. While the year 2017 ended with foreign investments at the level of 907 million euros. Therefore, we believe that this year will again be a positive year, with almost 1 billion dollars of foreign investments.

One of the Government’s priorities during both mandates has been the drafting of policies for the development and strengthening of foreign investments in Albania, so throughout the years foreign investors in Albania have been supported through fiscal innovations and various strategies.

Today is the best moment to invest in Albania, since in addition to the natural and demographic advantages that our country offers, we also have a very big advantage in terms of policies. In order to maximize investment promotion, we have chosen a combination between fiscal incentives, increasing the productivity of sectors and improving public services.

Since today’s friendly companies come from different business sectors, let me present you a brief and summarized overview of the facilities offered by the Albanian government in favor of promoting business in the country. In tourism, today in Albania, a reduced VAT of 6% is applied for tourism, for accommodation and food services within hotel structures. We are also promoting agritourism. Enterprises in the agritourism sector will benefit from a reduction in the profit tax from 15 to 5%.
The energy sector, in order to encourage and facilitate investments in the field of solar energy, will benefit from VAT exemption for a wide range of technological lines, machines and equipment.
In the agricultural sector, agricultural cooperation companies will benefit from VAT reimbursement at the rate of 20% and will be treated with reduced profit tax from 15% to 5%.

Since 2017, we have also launched a deep reform of public services and reducing the weight of bureaucracy, so that the entrepreneur does not have to spend time in port state offices and can focus his time on maximizing the company’s capacities.

What more reasons are needed to create an efficient partnership with Albanian business?

In the role of the Minister of State for Enterprise Protection, we have worked during the last year, not only to provide solutions to business concerns, but also to seek these concerns ourselves, personally going to the headquarters of each one to you were closer We have also cooperated with local and foreign business to push to the Government a series of legal proposals from our common tables, such as the WHITEBOOK or the 2 Proposal Packages, always with the aim of improving the business climate in the country. We feel ourselves partners with foreign business in every reform undertaken. Our vision sees Albania as a strategic place not only to host new or larger investments from China, but also to encourage the arrival of companies that have moved their production to more distant countries.

In conclusion, I am confident that all parties gathered here today will use this platform to deepen ideas and establish partnership relations based on cooperation and mutual benefits, and lay a sound foundation for long-term cooperation in the future.

Thank you .