PRESS RELEASE
Memorandum of Understanding on Remittances signed between the Bank of Albania, the Minister of State for the Diaspora and the Ministry of Finance and Economy

On 11 December 2017, at the premises of the Bank of Albania, a high - level meeting was held between the Bank of Albania, the Minister of State for Diaspora, the commercial banks and money transfer non-bank financial institutions operating in Albania.

This meeting is the first of a series of joint endeavours by Albanian institutions in an effort to give its due place to the financial contribution by Albanian emigrants to the welfare of their families at home. The purpose of this meeting was to foster co-operation and enhance inter-institutional coordination regarding ​​remittances.

The ceremony started with the welcoming speech of the Governor of the Bank of Albania, Mr Gent Sejko, and the Minister of State for the Diaspora, Mr Pandeli Majko, and continued with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Bank of Albania, the Minister of State for the Diaspora and the Ministry of Finance and Economy.

This memorandum aims at raising the awareness, facilitating dialogue and promoting effective cooperation between the parties on issues related to the contribution of remittances by Albanian emigrants to the development of the economy.

In his speech, Governor Sejko underlined the importance of remittances for Albania’s economy as a stable and significant inflow, thus representing a substantial funding source of economic growth. In this regard, he also stressed that remittances are estimated to have a significant impact on reducing poverty and improving the quality of life of Albanian households.

Governor Sejko added that the Bank of Albania has been engaged in concrete projects related to remittances and financial inclusion for the past two years in order to increase the number of households or enterprises that have bank accounts or payment accounts to conduct various transactions, as well as to increase market efficiency for remittances and raise the awareness on financial education.

Concluding, the Governor urged all representatives of the banking industry and other actors in the financial system that were present at this ceremony to play a special role in efficiently mobilizing remittances and to contribute to this initiative with concrete vision and products; He assured them that there will be continuous dialogue to facilitate any relevant undertaking in this aspect.

On his part, Minister Majko said that the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Bank of Albania and the government is part of efforts for the creation of a useful tool that will help the public and other stakeholders to improve policies in terms of relations with the Diaspora.

He added that despite the high level of remittances, Albania has not used them to ensure a structured economic growth; therefore today's memorandum is a step, which will coordinate the state institutions with the banking market so that investments of the Diaspora may be directed toward objectives that have sustainable results in the economy.

The meeting continued on a technical level, where participants had the opportunity to discuss the potential contribution of the financial system to this initiative.

• Governor Sejko: Speech at the high-level meeting on the remittances from the Albanian diaspora
• Minister Majko: Speech at the high-level meeting on the remittance from the Albanian diaspora (in Albanian)
• Memorandum (in Albanian)