For four years in a row, the lack of political dialogue and parliamentary boycott caused a lot of concern for Albanian companies. Such fact was announced by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tirana, according to which, the aggravated political situation in the country has had its effect in the domain of private enterprise. “We have constantly asked for this situation to be unblocked, because we think that it is necessary to guarantee political stability. We believe that this has a direct impact in the improvement of economic indicators”, was the declaration of the representative of this known institution in the country, Arben Shkodra.
He added that in the past 27 years, Albanian enterprise has constantly suffered the consequences of the political crises in Albania and as a result of them, it has seen a weakening of its capacities and it has not managed to be consolidated and become competitive in the region. “The political class has shown very little attention to enterprise and we’re constantly witnessing this not only during electoral campaigns, but also during the governments’ terms in office.
There has been almost a total lack of will to be consulted with the business on public policies that relate to production, market, competition and business environment”, was also stressed by the representative of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tirana. This institution sends a public appeal for politics to pay more attention to the economy and especially to the business sector, by giving it the importance that it deserves.
“We ask to political forces to pay more attention to the economy and private enterprises in order to resume constructive dialogue with the aim of making our requests part of their economic agendas. Ahead of us, we have many big challenges for the integration of the country in the European Union and private enterprise has an important and irreplaceable role in this process”, said the vice chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tirana.
Meanwhile, asked about the cost caused by the political crisis of the recent months to public enterprises, he said that there has not yet been a concrete figure on this, but this will become clearer in the second half of the year.
“Governments must sit down and talk to us”
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tirana has publicly invited yesterday all political forces in the country to hold joint meetings or consultation forums on economy related issues, thus appealing for Albanian politics to heed every concern and problem put forward by private enterprises, to make sure that economy improves its performance.
“We’re ready to knock on the door of every parliamentary political party, because private enterprise is interested to have sustainable economic growth for the country to be a competitive economy in the region and to guarantee the improvement of the welfare of the Albanian citizens. It’s in the best interest of the enterprise to sit down and discuss with the government on the reduction of taxes, such as progressive tax, to be reduced to levels which would not threaten the stability of public finances”, the vice chairman of the Chamber said.
Beyond the news
Who is being held accountable today for the effects of the crisis on the economy?
They shook hands, they approved the new ministers and along with them, the new technocrat government. The political crisis seems to have ended. But who worries about the economic crisis today? Who will answer to the business sector on the negative consequences that it suffered during the months when one political side was in the Tent, while the other was not budging, while the lorries filled with goods continued to drive in the roads of the country and workers needed to be paid? Nobody seemed very worried on the costs that business faces on a daily basis and the fact that this sector feeds many Albanian households. Or about the fact that it pays millions of euros to the state budget, through which the latter solves many problems. But who worries about the business problems? Why isn’t there any agreements on the crises that the business encounters?
Oh, yes. Let us not be cynical. Several days before the “Big Mac” agreement was reached, the political class started to appear on TV screens and remembered to talk about the economy, arguing that the crisis that has been caused by it has had a negative effect on the business and the finances of the country in general. Each side offered its arguments, admitting that this crisis had produced negative effects on the economy and the business sector. But this is it. Because since the evening of 18 May, filled with political excitement, everything seems to have been forgotten. Nobody bothered to speak again on the link between the economy and political crisis, obliging the businesses sector to appear in front of the media and tell politics: Enough is enough! Thus making that sector that works, produces, suffers and sacrifices to publicly demand from it stability and permanent assurance, because lorries filled with goods will continue to travel in the roads of this country and pay days for employees will come again.
