 To open a business in Albania needs only five days. This is a big jump compared with immense bureaucratic procedures and week-times needed several years ago. Meanwhile, some aspects of business regulation, such as obtaining construction permits, and registering a property, remain problematic. Three year ago, Albania launched the electronic procurement system which marked a major improvement in the transparency of the procurement process in the country. But still, unofficial payments to obtain public procurement contracts are high. Surveys point the increased satisfaction of the firms and citizens with public services, but according to the Albanian Institute of Statistics in the last 12 months, 28.3 percent of Albanians have been exposed to a bribery experience with a public official, and levels of informal payments are relatively high compared to neighboring countries. All the above examples show that “Albania has achieved a lot of improvements in governance in some sectors but there is still a long way to go as the country strives to meet the criteria for EU membership and also struggles to be more competitive and attract more investments in this very difficult global environment, ” said Jane Armitage, World Bank Country Director and Regional Coordinator for Southeast Europe, during the opening remarks of the “Towards better Governance in Albania” Conference, organized in Tirana on September 13, 2011.
 During the conference, officials from the government, representatives of the private sector, think-tanks, and the media came together to discuss the findings of several years’ analytical work carried out by the World Bank on public sector governance in Albania. This work was supported by the World Bank’s Governance Partnership Facility (GPF), which is financed by DFID, the Netherlands, and Norway. The products of the GPF grant for Albania include a series of sectoral analyses, support to the Albania’s e-procurement system and financing of innovative projects by civil society to promote better governance at the local level through the Mini Development Marketplace.
Prime Minister of Albania Sali Berisha, several ministers, senior officials from government and international community, and civil society representatives share their views, assessments and ideas with the World Bank staff. “Improving governance is a cross-cutting challenge, which is reflected in the agenda of the conference..., in the diversity of speakers, panelists and moderators who represent government, international community, civil society and the private sector”, said Kseniya Lvovsky, Country Manager for Albania in her opening remarks.  Albania’s ‘governance profile’ (see presentation) offered a broad review of the country’s key governance indicators, an analysis of relevant trends over time and in comparison with those of neighboring countries. The presentation also sought to analyze and understand how policies are made and implemented in practice and how public resources are used. Key trends in governance indicators for Albania show remarkable progress in improving the quality of governance, especially commendable are efforts to combat crime and improve public order and safety. “However, the quality of governance in Albania continues to lag that of many neighboring countries, said Clelia Rontoyanni, Public Sector Specialist and TTL of the Albania GPF, especially with respect to control of corruption. While reforms aimed at improving governance are showing promising results, the achievement of Albania’s ambitious development objectives will require decisive action on the part of the country’s political leadership and public administration to bring Albania’s governance to a qualitatively new level”.
 Governance in the Protection of Immovable Property Rights (see presentation) paper opened an interesting debate focused on questions such as: What are the main problems undermining security of property rights for Albanian citizens, domestic firms, and foreign investors? Is the Albanian public ready for an open public debate on the acceptable costs of compensating former owners? How can the payment of compensation be made fiscally affordable? What are the main obstacles that have slowed down the legalization process? How can the legalization of informal buildings be balanced with a credible territorial planning policy? How can the process for issuing construction permits be made more predictable and transparent? Discussions converged that current problems in property rights can be addressed through a coherent policy aimed at a comprehensive and pragmatic solution, ensuring that the policy solutions are widely acceptable and economically viable.
"Decentralization and Service Delivery in Albania: Governance in the Water Sector” (see presentation) paper analyzes water utility sector performance and the service delivery outcomes which and call for a more concerted approach to improving performance in the sector. “Misguided subsidies are closely linked with governance and a more promising approach would be to target subsidies at poor households, which would help reorient utilities to improving services to the client”, said Stephen Karam, Lead Urban Economist. In addition to important reforms, the Water Regulatory Entity should further encourage demand side governance, by holding public hearings when proposing tariff rate increases. This in turn will help to build a solid foundation of good governance in the sector and would use accountability measures as a way of promoting improved service provision. Despite positive perception of several education reforms during 2005-2008 they resulted in a relatively higher financial burden for the poor concluded the Albania: Keeping Account of Education Governance, Household Perceptions in a Period of Reform” paper (see presentation), presented by Gentjana Sula, Operations Officer, therefore better targeting of subsidies to the poor is needed. Several participants put forward suggestions to the policy makers in the conference that reforms shift importance away from discretion and reliance on personal connections towards uniformly applied. Transparency and the availability of information were considered critical to improving governance through greater accountability, and parents’ participation in education governance at higher levels of the education system.  One of the most interesting sessions of the Governance day was the presentation of Development Marketplace projects, which is being implemented in partnership with the British Council in Tirana. More than 140 local civil society organizations responded to the open call to compete with innovative ideas for better governance and accountability in Albania. As the Deputy Ambassador of United Kingdom in Albania, Elisabeth S. Evans emphasized “the project’s focus on governance is well timed and related with the country’s priorities towards EU integration”. 10 winning projects represented a variety of groups such as youth, women, local and central government allover 11 regions of Albania with a range of ideas from tax stamps from avoiding informality to monitoring state subsidiary policies for agriculture, index of government accountability, tracking systems for public budget allocation, photo novels, and documentaries.
Please see below the papers: 
Governance in Albania: A Way Forward for Competitiveness, Growth, and European Integration - A World Bank Issue Brief
Qeverisja në Shqipëri: Rruga përpara për konkurrueshmërinë, zhvillimin dhe integrimin Evropian - Një përmbledhje e Bankës Botërore 
Albania - Keeping Account of Education Governance - Household Perceptions in a Period of Reform
Shqipëria - Vlerësimi i qeverisjes në arsim - Perceptimet e familjeve gjatë një periudhe reformimi 
Governance in the Protection of Immovable Property Rights in Albania: A Continuing Challenge - A World Bank Issue Brief
Qeverisja në mbrojtjen e të drejtave mbi pronën e paluajtshme në Shqipëri: sfidë e vazhdueshme - Dokument informativ i Bankës Botërore 
Decentralization and Service Delivery in Albania: Governance in the Water Sector - A World Bank Issue Brief
Decentralizimi dhe Realizimi i Shërbimeve në Shqipëri: Qeverisja në Sektorin e Ujit - Dokument Informativ i Bankës Botërore |
RSS