USAID: Competitiveness and Openness Solution to Albania’s Widening Trade Deficit, Reduction in Remittances

TIRANA, April 28, 2009   “Albania’s trade deficit underlines the urgent need to improve the competitiveness of Albanian products in domestic and foreign markets,” said Roberta Mahoney, USAID Mission Director at a roundtable event held today in Tirana.  “USAID programs help strengthen the capacity of Albanian small and medium enterprises to improve their productivity and competitiveness, while seeking to increase export sales and trade.”

The Minister of Economy, Trade, and Energy, Mr. Genc Ruli also delivered remarks on the challenges facing trade in Albania.

The roundtable, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), gathered representatives of business organizations, government agencies, NGOs, and international institutions to discuss the findings of the 2008 Foreign Trade Report produced by the Albanian Center for Competitiveness and International Trade (ACIT).

“The fact that Albania’s export growth rate for 2008 is almost 10 percentage points below its level in 2007 (15.8 percent in 2008 compared to 25.5 percent in 2007) is a clear signal of the slowdown and the additional problems and pressures the Albanian trade was facing last year,” said Selim Belortaja, ACIT’s Executive Director.

As expressed in the recent G20 meeting, presenters echoed the risks of reacting to the global crisis through protectionist measures, reiterating that protectionism could never be a solution against the impact of the crisis, as it results in a further decline of the global demand.

This is the seventh consecutive year that ACIT produces its Trade Report and organized similar events on their findings, but this the first edition ACIT offers in its new status as an independent NGO. ACIT was established in 2002 as a project of USAID. In January, it registered as an independent NGO offering trade information and counseling services.