PRESS RELEASE
Round Table organised by the Bank of Albania in cooperation with the University of Oxford

The Bank of Albania in cooperation with the University of Oxford organised today the Round Table discussions on 'The economic and political challenges of regional cooperation'.

Representatives from the academic circles of Albania, the banking system, public institutions, internal organisations operating in Albania and from the Bank of Albania, attended this round table.

The Bank of Albania organised this meeting in the frame of the workshop discussions on 'Economic Growth in Albania - the need for a new model' held in May 2010 in the city of Berati.

The global economic crisis raised doubtfulness about the sustainability of the economic growth model in the region and also as regards to the policies implemented till now. Given that, the today discussions were focused on the analysing of the growth economic models the regional cooperation, the determination of the main regional challenges, and the external anchors towards the European Union Integration.

At the beginning of the proceedings of this roundtable the Governor of the Bank of Albania, Mr. Ardian Fullani and Prof. Othon Anastasakis, the University of Oxford signed a three-year cooperation agreement.

In his keynote address, Mr. Fullani stated that the monetary policy of the Bank of Albania is similar to that of the European Central Bank, which is based in two pillars: first the monetary analysis and second the economic analysis, focused especially on the performance of prices and on the inflationary expectations, especially over the long run.

' Having the maintaining of prices stability and the financial stability as main priorities, the Bank of Albania is determined to make all endeavours to encourage and play an active role in the approximation process of the country to the European standards.

One of the steps to take place successively, it is the study of competitive advantages in the Albanian economy from regional point of view, considering the shortfalls of the current model build up on the increase and expansion of credit and high consumption levels.

'In May 2010, Bank of Albania organised a round scientific table on the identification of the economy sectors, which may ensure a sustainable economic growth in the future. The meeting concluded that the next model of economic growth calls for the construction of a national development strategy. The next model should be based on the growth of output factors' productivity in all sectors of the economy' said the Governor of the Bank of Albania.

Bank of Albania and the Oxford University shall carry out researches and studies on the political economy in our region and the Southeaster Europe. The University of Oxford is one of the most eminent academic institutions at global level in the field of scientific research and education.

The join researches with the Bank of Albania shall focus on the analysing of the macroeconomic and financial challenges these countries encounter, as well as the encouragement of the deepening of knowledge on the competitive advantages and possibility to enhance the regional cooperation; the identification and harmonisation of structural reforms to provide a sustainable economic growth in the region and the real approximation for the integration in European Union. This cooperation shall assist the increase of capacities of scientific research and the education, as two preconditions for the establishment of professional capacities to guarantee the success of these reforms, the accomplishment of this target is foreseen to take place within the time span of 3-year.

The University of Oxford is one of the leading academic institutions in the world, ranked in the fifth place in 2009. The university has built up a long experience in the scientific researches filed, being focused specially not only on the study of new theories in economics, but also with regard to their implementation in the economic policy-making.