First, the EU would like to reaffirm its support to Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders and its inherent right of self-defence against the Russian aggression.

I would like to welcome warmly the Delegation of Albania, led by Mr Endrit Yzeiraj, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Finance and Economy, and H.E. Ambassador Mrs. Vasilika Hysi in Geneva. I would also like to thank the WTO Secretariat and Government of Albania for their respective reports and the Discussant, H.E. Mr Sabri Bachtobji (Tunisia) for introducing us to the 3^rd Trade Policy Review of Albania since its accession to the WTO in 2000.

Since its last Trade Policy Review in 2016, the Albanian economy has showed remarkable resilience faced with the economic impact of COVID-19 and the 2019 earthquake. This resilience, reinforced with a strong fiscal policy, contributed to a strong GDP growth in 2021 and 2022. In 2024, economic growth is projected to rebound to 3.9% and stay close to this rate in the medium term, mainly supported by consumption and investment as well as exports.

This strong recovery provided a boost to the labour market, with the effect that Albania now has the highest participation rate and one of the lowest unemployment rates in the region. 

However, a lot remains to be done to improve the life of many Albanian citizens. Institutional and regulatory reforms could further boost economic growth and raise the country’s productivity and competitiveness; in particular reforms related to the tax system, property and land ownership, eradication of corruption and informality, the organization and the efficiency of the public administration and the ongoing brain-drain.  

In that respect, Albania would benefit from making the best out of its strengths such as its geopolitical stability, solid GDP growth, young population, renewable energy resources, growing tourism sector, close proximity to the EU market and the positive perception on accession across the country.

The EU continues to be the first trading partner of Albania and accounts for 59% of its total trade. In 2022, we exchanged goods worth of 7.4 billion euros, which is more than double the amount of traded goods since the last trade policy review.  The EU is also the largest provider of technical and financial assistance to Albania with the budget allocated for the period 2014-2023 amounting to about 900 million euros.

As described in the WTO Secretariat report, the EU-Albania Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) foresees the possibility to conclude an Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products (ACAA) between Albania and the European Union.  As part of the new Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, the European Commission has reaffirmed the possibility to conclude Agreements on Conformity assessment with a view to unlocking the Single Market for goods manufactured in the Western Balkans, including in Albania.

In July 2022, the European Union opened accession negotiations with Albania.  Since then, we have been going through an extensive exercise of examination of the alignment of Albania's laws with the EU acquis.  This process should soon be completed and the EU hopes to open the first cluster covering fundamental issues such as those relating to the judiciary and fundamental rights in the very near future.

The EU would like to praise Albania for the reforms carried out since the last Trade Policy Review. We also thank Albania for providing replies to our questions on Albania’s trade policies and measures, including customs procedures, incentives, customs valuation, intellectual property rights, and developments in the e-commerce and digitalization as well as some sectoral policies, notably energy sector and transport services. 

The EU welcomes the start of the accession process of Albania to the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement, in particular the recent provision of comprehensive information regarding the legal framework and the institutional structure of the public procurement system in Albania. We look forward for the swift submission of the initial market access offer by Albania. We also extend to Albania the invitation to join the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA) as a temporary measure until the WTO dispute settlement system is restored. The EU would like to take this occasion to applaud Albania’s ratification of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies (phase 1), as adopted at the 12^th Ministerial Conference of the WTO.

Finally, the EU looks forward to constructive engagement with Albania to achieve positive outcomes at the upcoming 13^th Ministerial Conference of the WTO next February.

I would like to end my statement by wishing Albania all the best for the 3^rd review. Thank you.