PRESS RELEASE
Bank of Albania Governor, Mr. Ardian Fullani, meets with representatives of the Supervision of Credit and Financial Institutions Department of the Bank of Greece

On 17-18 January 2011, a high-level delegation of the Supervision of Credit and Financial Institutions Department of the Bank of Greece paid a two-day visit to the Bank of Albania, in the framework of the existing bilateral cooperation between the two central banks.

During its visit, the Bank of Greece delegation was received by the Governor of the Bank of Albania, Mr. Ardian Fullani. Governor Fullani and senior officials of the Bank of Albania discussed, in their meeting with the Bank of Greece delegation, issues on economy and finance developments with a special focus on banking groups operating in both countries.

Moreover, the Greek delegation and their Albanian counterparts had joint meetings with Chief Executives of Greek banks operating in Albania. In these meetings, the supervisory authorities had the opportunity to discuss the situation and development of these banks and the market in general, as well as address issues related to activities and strategies of these banks for the future.

At the conclusion of their visit, Governor Fullani had a joint meeting with the delegation of the Bank of Greece and Chief Executives of Greek banks that operate in Albania. The Governor informed them on conclusions by the Bank of Albania on the progress of the Albanian economy, the banking system and Greek banks during 2010. More specifically, he said that Greek banks operating in Albania have been and continue to be an important part of the Albanian banking system, in the recent years.

Furthermore, Mr. Fullani listed some of the main directions where these banks may focus for the current year. Considering them an integral part of the banking system, he invited the Greek banks to continue crediting the economy yet maintaining its quality, transparency related to costs towards the customers, as well as enhance the integrity and professionalism of the banks personnel.