The Millennium Challenge Albania Threshold Agreement project, administered by USAID, aims to reduce corruption and improve performance in three key areas of public administration:
 
  Tax administration  
  Public procurement  
  Business registration.

The project addresses the lack of transparency and public scrutiny that have defined many economic activities in Albania in a two-pronged approach that involves process reform through legislative enhancements and IT solutions, as well as country-wide public education campaign, and promotion of civil society watchdog activities.

Progress in the following three components of the Millennium Challenge project will advance Albania in achieving the Millennium Development Goals and help the country to qualify for Millennium Challenge Corporation compact status.

Tax Administration: Pilot reform efforts in the Tirana Tax Office and Large Taxpayers Office are aimed at upgrading tax collection and customer service, improving transparency and effectiveness, and better informing taxpayers of their rights and responsibilities.

Public Procurement: Activities under this component strive to improve the capacity of the Public Procurement Agency to conduct transparent public procurements, promote active private sector engagement in the process, and increase awareness of the new public procurement legal framework.

Business Registration: The project is committed to assisting the Government of Albania to implement the new Law on the National Registration Center (NRC) and new business registration procedures which significantly reduce entrepreneurs' time and costs in registering a new business or requiring other business registration services, as well as provide public access to an Electronic Commercial Registry.

The Millennium Challenge Albania project promotes transparency and public access in adherence to the principle that the public must have access to information that belongs in the public record, and the understanding that citizens also need to be cognizant of their rights and obligations. To this end, the project assists the government to establish mechanisms to solicit citizens' ideas and concerns, such as Advisory Boards, and to inform the business community and the public at large when new laws, regulations, and policies are adopted in any of the three areas of focus, through multi-media campaigns.

To date, the Project has:

• Assisted the Government of Albania in drafting the new tax procedure law that will streamline and modernize tax administration in Albania. The draft law was widely discussed with the business community during September – October 2007. Following the aproval by the Parliament on May 19, 2008, it entered into force on June 25, 2008.
  ü Developed the VAT e-filing system, successfully tested it and offered it for use for large taxpayers in Tirana in October 2007. Beginning in April 2008 the taxpayers registered in the Tirana Tax Office can file online. The system now includes the option to e-file also the personal income tax, the profit tax, as well as the social security and health contributions.
• Assisted in drafting the new public procurement law, which entered into effect in January 2007, authorizing for the first time electronic procurements and independent oversight. During 2007, the Project was instrumental in drafting the necessary secondary legislation and regulations to implement the law.
  Supported the opening of the office of the Procurement Advocate who was appointed by the Parliament in maj 2007, and continues to provide organizational assistance to this institution.
• Developed the e-procurement system in line with EU directives and successfully tested it in a 220 million Euro tender for the one-year electricity purchase by the Albanian Electric Corporation (KESH). As of December 4, 2008, the e-procurement system has been approved for use by the Government of Albania. At the onset of the 2008 public procurement procedures, on April 9, the National Registration Center opened the bids for the first fully electronic tender in Albania. 
• Trained more then 1025 public procurement officials, other public officials, and economic operators on the new law and regulations, as well as on e-procurement.
  Developed the legal framework and the e-registration system, trained staff, and renovated and equipped the offices of the one-stop-shop National Registration Centre (NRC) which opened on September 3, 2007. NRC has reduced the time for registering a business and changing the business registration data from 48 days to 24 hours.
• Assisted NRC in establishing municipal service windows in Elbasan, Tirana, Shkodër, Durrës, Gjirokastra, Fier, Korçë and Kukës by January 14, 2007.
  ü Conducted several country wide public information campaigns to inform the business community and the public at large about the new services made available to them by project-supported reforms.