Albania: Paving the Way for Improved Business - BERIS

Albania’s Directorate of Metrology is getting new tools and a new headquarters; it is getting everything that those who work there say they need to do their job of ensuring the country’s businesses and other institutions are up to standard, in terms of safety, transparency, quality and other vital areas.

“We got larger facilities (and) bigger premises for our laboratories,” said Majlinda Hoxha, from inside a brand-new laboratory, something she said was imperative for measuring, and “calibrating” the content, output, and safety of the country’s different products, from gasoline and shoes, to food products, such as cooking oil and bread. 

“We extended the scope of our activities, and it was accompanied by increases in the quality of the services we provide,” she said of the new lab, and other improvements, paid for through the government’s Business Environment Reform and Institutional Strengthening Project (BERIS), supported by the World Bank. 

The business project aims at facilitating business entry and operations in Albania’s formal economy, and strengthening the capacity of the country’s enterprise sector in order to increase exports towards regional and European Union markets. 

“This lab is for measuring different units of voltage, and with this equipment we can check the amount used by businesses,” said Agron Laci, from a corner his new lab and office, provided under the government project.

The electrical engineer said the new space and specialized training BERIS provided allowed him and other technicians to more efficiently gauge how much a product is being sold for and how much electricity is required to produce it.

Surveys of the project’s results so far show that these more efficient means of operation have led to increased satisfaction among the public and private sector alike, especially with regards to electricity and tax assessments.

Another aspect of the BERIS project aims at keeping businesses safe for employees and the environment, through training in a more efficient, targeted, and organized system of inspections that ensure better working conditions for everyone.

“It is important to have hygienic and environmental inspections, so that the workspace is up to standard,” said Sonila Ymeri, who works as an overseer at a shoe factory on the outskirts of Tirana, which produces footwear for markets in Italy and Spain.  She said she was happy that the more efficient inspections would guarantee safe conditions for her and the other 400 women and men working under her.

And business owners are happy as well.  The new inspection system is synchronizing the days on which such inspections take place, to prevent the lulls in valuable production time.