At a meeting with representatives of the business community, the National Program for Preparing Business for Integration into the European Union was presented, an initiative aimed at supporting Albanian enterprises in adapting to European Union standards and preparing for participation in the European Single Market.

The program will be implemented with the support of UNDP expertise and provides for informing 48,000 enterprises, setting up a national support platform, creating a network of experts, as well as increasing standardization and certification according to EU requirements, with the aim of ensuring that Albanian businesses are prepared for the challenges and opportunities that membership in the European Union brings.

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Prime Minister Edi Rama: Greetings to everyone!

I want to begin with a special greeting for the lady who spoke before me, because she leads an enterprise that is an embodiment of vision and of the ability to transform and adapt.

It is an enterprise that is part of the entire former system of Fason enterprises, where in fact we have been able to observe two choices, two tendencies. One is the choice of inertia and the tendency to seek the guarantee of tomorrow in relief measures, in government injections, and even in the request to financially support these enterprises so that they can cope with the euro exchange rate.

Naturally, this is a free choice, but it is a tendency that goes against the irreversible and unstoppable process of the overall transformation of the economy in facing the extraordinarily complex challenges of integration into the common European market.

The other choice is the choice made by the lady and several other companies, where the tendency has not been how to protect ourselves, but how to go beyond the boundaries imposed on us by the situation we are in, and how to innovate, transform, and adapt. And in fact today, her enterprise, like all enterprises that have made this choice, is at another level. They are at another level and have proven that courage is rewarded when it is supported by a clear vision, by a strong will, and certainly also by the idea that “the future does not stop, it comes, and the past does not return, it has gone.”

We are here precisely for this: for the future that does not stop because it comes, and for the past that does not return because it has gone. And precisely in order to stand close to businesses in this confrontation with the future that is now coming quickly and unstoppably, which is membership in the EU, we have engaged in the creation of this national program, which we will also support with the expertise of UNDP, which will engage, in the function of the program, well-informed and well-prepared experts to assist Albanian enterprise.

We are in circumstances where, on the one hand, we must increase support for enterprise, something we have done and will continue to do consistently, because this is the system of enterprise, this is the system of creating new jobs through enterprise, this is the system of economic and social development through the flourishing of enterprise. This is the system where, without the entrepreneur, there are only illusions and abysses behind them. For this reason, we want, first and foremost, Albanian small and medium-sized enterprise to have today the chance that, if it has the capacity of sufficient courage, a clear idea for tomorrow, and the necessary will to carry the idea forward with courage, it will have our support. And our support for this category is meaningful support that will materialize in the coming days with the opening of the national program “Double Your Business.” A sovereign guarantee and a financing portfolio in support of all those who will want to climb higher, who will want to increase their volume, who will want to raise standards, and who will want to prepare themselves so as not to be hit and swept away by the strong wind of this transformation and of inclusion in the common European market.

Every small and medium-sized entrepreneur who has everything except financing will have financing. They will have financing with the support of the Albanian government, thanks to the credit line of the Bank of Albania and the agreement we have made with second-tier banks, for low interest rates and meaningful financing. And we will not stop at a financing quota such as the one we have foreseen. If there is a need for more, we will do more and will make more available. We will not stop. There will be no small and medium-sized enterprise that presents a convincing idea and a credible plan that will not be financially supported. But precisely to facilitate this process between the idea and the financing, assistance will also serve for the preparation of business plans and the preparation of applications.

Another aspect of this journey is the aspect of increasing and strengthening the start-up system in Albania. Within a few days, we have doubled the financing for young women and men who have applied to the “Startup Albania” program. Applications began a few years ago with fewer than 100, and this year they exceeded 1,200. We doubled the financing and have told those young people, and all young women and men who are in that world, that we will increase financing proportionally with the increase in applications.

The minister said it: the drafting of the industrial strategy of the Republic of Albania, which will guide development toward priorities with high potential for competitiveness and high productivity, as well as the drafting of the national export strategy, to support precisely the internationalization of our enterprises, are two approaches to two very important components of this moment.

Meanwhile, what do we aim for with this program that we are presenting in terms of the scale that the program will reach? We want to inform 48,000 enterprises throughout the country, one by one, one by one, one by one.

We want to jointly set up a national business support platform and create the national network of experts and consulting, and for this, once again, UNDP’s expert support will help us.

We want to organize a cycle of hundreds of sectoral trainings, we want to increase standardization and certification according to EU standards, and naturally, in the end, competitiveness. Certainly, there is a necessary component that will be included in this process, which is the universities.

We need knowledge, enterprise needs knowledge, this process needs knowledge and, above all, all of us together need information to understand exactly what comes with inclusion in the large common European market. Albania’s membership in the European Union, in very simple words, means Albania becomes as large as the EU, and the EU becomes as large as Albania, in the sense that you are no longer an entrepreneur within the borders of the Republic of Albania, but you are an entrepreneur within the borders of the European Union. The rules and standards of the European Union apply to you in the same way, even though they may be more imposing and more demanding than those you have today, but the opportunities in the space of free competition in the European Union also apply to you in the same way.

It is a great challenge that comes with great opportunities and, like every great challenge with great opportunities, it also has great risks. Therefore, we want to get ahead of as many risks as possible for companies and, meanwhile, we want to give companies as many elements as possible at their disposal to win the challenge. This is the program, and I believe that together we will succeed, while the Ministry of Economy and Innovation will prepare a dedicated website for this entire program and to keep all enterprises informed in real time, while at the same time keeping open a window for all inquiries, questions, requests, complaints, and so on.

Thank you very much!