Policy Forum – Fair Competition Culture in Albania

On 14 December 2011, EMA in cooperation with Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) organized the policy forum on “Fair Competition Culture in Albania”. Distinguished panellists in the policy forum were: Mrs. Lindita (Milo) Lati, Head of the Albanian Competition Authority and Mr. Gjergj Buxhuku, General Administrator of Konfindustria. The forum brought together representatives from state regulatory bodies, business community and academic circles, who argued on competition policies and their level of implementation.

The forum was welcomed by Mr. Gledis Gjipali, Executive Director of EMA emphasizing the role of this activity in shifting the information and debate from the small groups of experts to a larger audience. The economic dimension constitutes a new inspiration source for EMA, which will be further used to ensure more thoroughly and qualitative analysis in this regard.

In order to illustrate the importance of the economic criteria, Mr. Michael Weichert, FES Director for Albania, brought for the audience the example of the U.S.A election campaign of 1992, where the focus on economic aspects played a substantial role in shaping the final results. Given the fact that during the last two years we have put so much emphasis on the political stalemate, the return of attention to issues directly related to the interest of each of us takes on particular significance. “Due to this reason, I strongly encouraged EMA to deepen the research even more in this direction” concluded Mr. Weichert.

Mrs. Lindita (Milo) Lati, Head of the Competition Authority hold a detailed presentation of the philosophy on which this institution operates. She focused in particular on the efficient mechanisms to enhance the competition culture in Albanian as an indicator of positive development. According to Mrs. Lati, if we take into consideration the number of decisions and issues raised by business community and after dealt with by the Authority, the work and performance of this institution has been increasing from year to year. However, the number of decisions is not necessarily an indicator of the success of the Authority’s activity as there are many cases where Competition Authority mediates and support businesses to avoid penalties.

Meanwhile, Mr. Gjergj Buxhuku, representative of Konfindustria during his speech emphasized the importance of competition as one of the main pillars on which the capitalist economy is established. Representing the business community, Mr. Buxhuku conveyed to the audience problems this community encounters. The existence of monopolies or oligopolies is result of small and underdeveloped markets, which potentially create space for the expansion of these non-competitive elements. The most problematic sectors of Albanian economy, needing further addressing by the Authority remain the import of good and services sector.

During the meeting, Ms. Evisi Kopliku, Policy Researcher at EMA presented the key findings of the policy paper “Fair Competition Culture in Albania” prepared by EMA expert’s team. By identifying the key factors hindering the development of a fair competition among market players, the paper provides a comprehensive overview of recent developments on competition policy in Albania. A special attention in the policy paper is paid to the role of key regulatory institutions in the framework of protection of fair competition by shedding light on instruments available to institutions to enhance competition culture over public entities, business community and citizens at large.

The policy forum was followed up by an open session where representatives from Competition Authority, other regulatory bodies, business and academic community discussed competition policies and practical difficulties encountered in the Albanian reality.

The event was widely covered by electronic and printed media.