PRESS RELEASE
On the meeting with representatives of the European Central Bank

On April 20-21, with invitation from the Governor Ardian Fullani, a delegation headed by Mr. Pierre van der Haegen, Director General, International and European Relations, European Central Bank, headquarter in Frankfurt, visited the Bank of Albania. This is the first time that officials from the ECB visit Albania in the framework of encouraging the relations between the ECB and the Central Banks of Southeastern Europe. Representatives of the ECB held meetings with the Governor of the Bank of Albania, Mr. Ardian Fullani and other senior officials of the institution. The meetings aimed mainly at knowing two institutions and establishing contacts for cooperating between them.

There was discussed in the meeting with the Governor of the Bank of Albania, Mr. Ardian Fullani, about issues on cooperation between the Bank of Albania and the European Central Bank, as well as about the most recent developments in the financial sector of our country and challenges it is faced with.

In the meetings with other officials of the Bank of Albania, the discussions were focused on Albania's macroeconomic development and on specific areas of focus for mutual cooperation. More concretely, this cooperation will consist in technical assistance that the ECB can provide to the Bank of Albania in many central banking areas, particularly in that of analyses and monetary policy management. At the same time, it is deemed to initiate regular visits of the Bank of Albania staff to the ECB, not only in the framework of technical assistance, but also to know more closely the way this essential institution of the European System of Central Banks functions, part of which the Bank of Albania will also become in the future.

In these meetings was also discussed about the incentive of the Bank of Albania to organize and maintain an open forum on "Central Bank Governance", which will be held at the beginning of December 2005, for which the ECB will provide its assistance.

Another topic was the discussion of the idea of the Governor Fullani in terms of extending and enhancing regional cooperation, either in senior level or in specialists' level, which is in compliance with the objectives of the ECB to establish long-term and constant links with all countries that are potential candidates for membership in the European Union. In this framework, it is thought to organize a conference with central banks of the region in a near future, and to create a club of regional central banks, with the purpose to raise the capacities of these banks in required international levels.