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Rama's conference on the business climate. Bozdo: The problem is the government and not the business

Politiko 2023-10-03 14:36:53

Rama's conference on the business climate. Bozdo: The problem is the

The member of the Presidency of the DP, Eno Bozdo in a statement to the media said that in the last ten years, Albania has known a continuous deterioration of the business climate

"The Prime Minister remembered today to talk about the business climate in Albania. In a meeting like we have seen dozens of these years, with the same scenario, where the Prime Minister talks, promises, accuses the business and as always, nothing happens, until the meeting next.

The truth is that in the last ten years, according to all international reports on investments and the business climate in Albania, as well as the reactions of the Foreign Chambers of Commerce, Albania has seen a continuous deterioration of the business climate. In April of this year, five foreign chambers of commerce addressed an open letter to the prime minister (for the first time ever), asking him for reforms to significantly improve the business climate in Albania. Today, in addition to the significant increase in bureaucratic procedures and the number of permits and licenses, above all, the corruption and arrogance of the inspection bodies has increased without limit, as well as the inability and indolence of the central administration to deal with real business problems in Albania;

During its governance in the years 2005-2013, the Democratic Party government undertook a major and very successful deregulation reform, the One-Stop-Shop for business registration and permits and licenses. Not only that, but in the last two years, the democratic government had successfully completed (leaving it ready on the table for the Rama government) the reform of Inspectorates or inspection bodies, a joint reform with the World Bank/IFC. Since this moment, not only has no reform in this direction been undertaken, but also the previous reforms, especially the reduction of permits and licenses, have taken big steps backwards. Therefore, while our neighbors have taken galloping steps forward, this lost decade is the total responsibility of the socialist government;

At the same time, it is funny to hear the prime minister talk about public procurement and the use of Artificial Intelligence in it. Public procurement today suffers from deep corruption. About 30% of them end up with a single contestant and about 50% of them are bids equal to the limit fund. The use of artificial intelligence when the administration is deeply corrupt is just another curveball. The problem is corruption and not electronics.

Finally, an important component of the business climate is the level of taxation. Today, business in Albania is taxed directly and indirectly almost twice as much as in 2013, which is also the last year of the Democratic Party's government.

Despite this, the collected revenues point to deep informality and widespread corruption everywhere, at every level of government. The Economic Institute of Vienna, in its report a few days ago, describes Albania as the country with the highest informality in the Region, almost double the informality of other countries in the Region. This clearly shows that the main problem is not the businesses that do not pay taxes, but the government that irritates taxes outside of any logic of the market and regional economic competitiveness, thus leading to a mandatory increase in fiscal informality.

Conclusion: the problem is not business, but the government! And with this government, unfortunately, we will see conferences like today's again, while the business climate will continue to deteriorate further!" said Bozdo.