Dear readers,
 
As the American Chamber of Commerce in Albania (AmCham) prepares to celebrate its tenth anniversary, we are happy to note that it has grown into an active forum where Albania’s best known businesses come together, thus helping to create a network where businesses get information and develop new professional relationships. In fulfilling this purpose, AmCham has also been active in promoting new lobbying techniques and the latest trends in information technology, as well as in monitoring legislative initiatives with significant impact on the business community.

In the course of our work, we have shared common goals and worked closely with important partners, such as the Millennium Challenge Corporation Albania Threshold Program II (MCCA2). Thanks to this cooperation, AmCham has had the opportunity to explore new avenues in fulfilling its commitment to improve Albania’s business climate.

In particular, AmCham’s active contribution to the establishment and activities of the Coalition in Support of Administrative Courts has been and is a valuable experience made possible with technical assistance from MCCA2. AmCham has also benefited both from classroom training and training tailored to its needs, provided by internationally renowned advocacy experts. Participation in this training significantly increased our ability to lobby effectively on issues relevant to businesses.

In addition, with funding and support by MCCA2, AmCham engaged, for the first time, in monitoring e-government services, namely the electronic procurement system (EPS). This has given us the opportunity to further develop the capacity and expertise to monitor the work of public administration.

In closing, let me reiterate AmCham’s appreciation for MCCA2’s role as a key partner in the efforts to enhance the quality, effectiveness, and transparency of services for the business community in Albania.

Sincerely,
Floreta Luli-Faber, Executive Director
American Chamber of Commerce in Albania

In June 2010, the National Licensing Center (NLC) celebrated its first anniversary. Within its first year of operation, NLC has set an enviable standard for broader public sector modernization that stands on the pillars of simplicity, transparency, efficiency, use of information technology, and customer service. Through its streamlined procedures, supported by e-government systems, and its steadily expanding network of regional service windows, the Center has substantially contributed to the ease of doing business in Albania. During NLC’s first twelve months of operation, for group I and II licenses issued by the Center on its own authority, on average, businesses were able to obtain the certificates respectively, in less than 2 days, or in no more than 2.5 days compared with the legally mandated maximum of 4 days. In the cases of business applications for group III licenses that require approvals or inspections by other institutions, the NLC achieved on average time savings of 25% compared with the legal deadlines in force as of January 1, 2010. In addition, recent polling of NLC applicants indicates that an overwhelming majority views NLC services as a significant improvement over the previous licensing regime. Based on this success, with MCCA2 support, the Government of Albania is now taking steps to expand the range of business licenses and permits that will be awarded by and through the NLC
one-stop-shop service windows.

On June 16, 2010, the Council of Ministers approved two core sub-legal acts to the Territorial Planning Law: (i) “On the organization and functioning of the Territorial Planning Register”, and (ii) “On the approval of common geodesic and GIS standards”. The first decision establishes the Planning Register as an integrated network of decentralized databases owned and updated by national and local planning authorities, and accessed through a web portal managed by the National Territorial Planning Agency (NTPA). The second mandates the use by all public entities of common standards for GIS and geodesic data, to ensure interoperability among the decentralized databases. The decisions require the establishment and staffing of 12 regional service centers, foreseen in the law, by NTPA. In addition, they envision that matching grants will be made available to Albania’s municipalities and communes through the Regional Development Fund and other financing sources to allow them to actively contribute territorial planning information to the Register. The decisions were drafted with MCCA2 support, and were extensively consulted with national and local stakeholders.

Based on the activity of a joint working group composed of representatives of NTPA, Tirana municipality, the Association of Municipalities, and international experts, MCCA2 completed a report with recommendations for streamlining and unifying construction permitting procedures implemented by Albanian municipalities and communes, in accordance with the Territorial Planning Law. The report’s findings and recommendations were vetted by other municipalities participating in the MCCA2 pilot program, and then incorporated into the Planning Register’s software as a uniform system for tracking construction permit applications and awards online. A trial run of this tracking system conducted by the Tirana municipality is expected to take place in August.

During April-May 2010, MCCA2 delivered an advanced advocacy capacity development program for 30 Albanian civil society organizations (CSOs). Leading advocacy practitioners from the U.S. provided three two-day training workshops on (i) the Advocacy Campaign Cycle, (ii) Using IT Tools for Advocacy, and (iii) Monitoring Advocacy Campaigns and Outcomes, which were attended by over 65 participants. The training topics were developed based on the findings of the Advocacy Capacity Assessment that was conducted at the beginning of the MCCA2 program. The trainers also provided one-day on-the-job mentoring sessions for five business organizations: the Union of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Tirana Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Agribusiness Council of Albania, the Professional and Business Women’s Association, and the American Chamber of Commerce. The mentoring sessions were tailored to the specific needs of the beneficiaries.

  Deployment of GDT’s first ever automated case delivery and related management information system for unsettled tax accounts (credit and debit balance situations) 
  Implementation of a nationwide plan reforming taxpayer services based on lessons learned from the Tirana Taxpayer Service
  Organization of roundtables between NLC and business community representatives and public officials in the regions on the ongoing licensing reform
  Rolling-out of training on the use of Territorial Planning Register web portal software applications to trainees in national and local planning authorities

MCCA2 has now completed the initial useable version of a new case management system for the future administrative courts in Albania. This state-of-the-art web-based system accommodates the entire case flow for both the first and second instance courts, and enables the electronic transfer of case data to and from the system in use at the High Court. The new system includes several key features which boost transparency and accountability, including the automatic random assignment of cases to judges immediately upon case registration, an online docket that displays case events in real-time, and a user-friendly public portal where visitors can search case data and view decisions. The program took an inclusive and collaborative approach while designing the system and conducted more than 15 interactive tests and demonstrations with staff of the Ministry of Justice and judges and staff from numerous courts. MCCA2 has also completed the development of the entire suite of ten training courses related to administrative justice and its practice, which will be delivered to judges and staff of the future administrative courts, as well as public and private attorneys. These courses were designed to be sustainable and stand-alone modules that could be easily incorporated by the Magistrate School into its initial or continuous judicial training programs.

MCCA2 assisted the General Directorate of Taxation (GDT) in piloting at the Tirana Tax Office a major breakthrough that improves service to taxpayers, increases the professionalism of Taxpayer Service inspectors, sharply curtails personal interaction between taxpayers and their assigned Processing inspectors, and makes processing work more efficient. For all questions involving tax law, tax procedures, and account status, as well as return preparation assistance, now taxpayers address Taxpayer Service. In addition, the authority to sign tax certificates has been delegated to the Director of Taxpayer Service Directorate. Hence, the certificates are now issued faster and more efficiently. With the expected conversion to a web-based certificate application, currently under development with MCCA2 support, the certificate issuance process will be further improved. Taxpayers will be able to request a certificate online, and within 3 to 5 business days will only need one quick trip to the tax office to retrieve it.

In an effort to systematize and reduce opportunities for corruption within the Field Verification Unit, which replaced the tax police, MCCA2 worked with GDT to dramatically revise the Field Inspection work processes addressing the need for internal control systems. Based on a detailed instruction manual that reinvents this work process, instead of the two-person teams who had sole responsibility for defined areas, field inspector teams are now rotated weekly and must complete their inspections in a ‘mini-zone’. Inspectors do not know in advance the location of their next mini-zone assignment, and standardized mandatory record-keeping has been established for all contacts with taxpayers. These steps are reducing inappropriate contact with taxpayers and bringing more rigor to inspections.