Business climate and investments, German Assoc. of Business: Economic situation is bad

German association of industry and trade conducted a survey on business climate and investments in Albania. 56% of the respondents have considered the economic situation in Albania to be bad. The German investors state that Albania would be the last country in the region where they could have invested. “The German economy is ready to invest if it has the impression that moves in a safe ground from the legal point of view, given that the country offers advantages and opportunities but believing that there will not be sudden changes of the contracts. There are taken a series of measures to encourage investments but more needs to be done. There are also obstacles which are not easy to be overcome; such as the creation of an efficient public administration or the fight against corruption and organized crime”-declared the German chancellor during her visit back in July of 2015. After 8 months, the German business association raises the same concerns:

“Factors assessed as an obstacle for choosing Albania as an investment destination is the strengthening of the rule of law, of the public administration, the unpredictability of economic policies, transparency of tenders and the fight against informality and corruption, the rule of law and taxes. German businesses think that foreign companies are being checked 20 times more than local companies. Contact persons who have experience in this sector are needed. According to observations, contact persons in the region do not change, while in Albania contact persons change with the change of the governments.’

From the survey, 38% of companies consider the situation to be satisfactory and 56% of them consider the economic situation to be bad. 1,623 companies from all regional countries have participated in the survey. 40 of these companies were from Albania.