Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08TIRANA66
2008-01-25 16:57:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Tirana
Cable title:
THIS WEEK IN ALBANIA, JANUARY 18 - 25, 2008
how-toVZCZCXRO1456 RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHTI #0066/01 0251657 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 251657Z JAN 08 FM AMEMBASSY TIRANA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6596 INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 0040 RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 0014
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TIRANA 000066
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON PGOV PREL AL
SUBJECT: THIS WEEK IN ALBANIA, JANUARY 18 - 25, 2008
REF: TIRANA 10
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TIRANA 000066
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON PGOV PREL AL
SUBJECT: THIS WEEK IN ALBANIA, JANUARY 18 - 25, 2008
REF: TIRANA 10
1. (U) The following is a weekly report prepared by Embassy
Tirana's local staff to provide political and economic context and
insight into developments in Albania. These updates will supplement
post's DAR reports and reporting cables.
--------------
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
--------------
2. (U) One With the People: Opposition leader Edi Rama continued
his "Dialogue with Albania" by talking to locals in an area that has
traditionally isolated itself with its renegade policies, Lazarat.
This small village is infamous for the illegal cultivation and
export of cannabis - in spite of intermittent government efforts to
crack down on this livelihood. It has been used over the last
decade as a political football by both left and right wing
governments, though neither has managed to reign it in. Rama tried
a populist appeal this week to attempt to bring the village into the
Socialist Party fold. With careful rhetoric he avoided mentioning
"growing weed" and concentrated on "growing together," emphasizing
that "Young people should become the example for politicians, for a
new politics completely different from the deafening and blinding
one - completely different from the politics that does not provide
jobs or schooling, leaving us without a future. It must be
different from the politics that is devastating the Albanian village
and rendering the Albanian city an unlivable place."
-------------- --------------
"As long as we are persistent in our pursuit of our deepest destiny,
we will continue to grow. We cannot choose the day or time when we
will fully bloom. It happens in its own time." Denis Waitley
-------------- --------------
--------------
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS
--------------
4. (U) Time for tanglible results: "Every cloud has a silver
lining" is proving somewhat true in the case of Albania's 2006-2007
energy crises. This winter's energy shortage became the driving
force in accelerating reforms to promote investments in this sector.
The Prime Minister reviewed a record number of investment proposals
for energy generation in 2007 and several previously derailed
projects finally seem to be back on track. Options vary from hydro
and thermal power plants to renewable energy generation and long
term strategies such as nuclear power. The PM announced that in the
not-too-distant future Albania will be an energy exporter rather
than importer in the region, a goal which could be bolstered by the
recent GOA nod to create the largest on-shore wind farm in Europe,
with a total generating capacity of 500 MW. A second undersea power
cable has also been approved, a 400kV cable stretching across the
Otranto channel under the Adriatic Sea, to allow electricity
transmission between Albania and Italy.
5. (U) This focus on energy infrastructure is welcome news to
common citizens who have become increasingly jaded by every new
claim to solve the problem, only to be left the next winter - and
sometimes summer too - without their basic needs being met. In
almost two decades the problem has remained unaddressed, without the
construction of a single energy generation source and no
comprehensive update to the crumbling infrastructure. Albanians
today are eager for tangible results.
6. (U) Albanian Micro Finance in Forbes Top 50: Forbes Magazine
named BESA 43rd in its World's Top 50 Microfinance Institutions.
The list includes just seven institutions from Europe, clustered in
the Western Balkans. Institutions were ranked according to the
scale, efficiency, risk and return equally weighted for overall
ranking.
7. (U) BESA was the micro finance "pioneer," begun as a Soros
Foundation urban micro credit project in 1994. (Today there are six
micro finance lenders in the country.) BESA's assistance reigns
where traditional banks do not, mainly in the agricultural sector,
but also in support of women-owned businesses. The average loan
does not exceed US$4,000 and 55% of the loans are less than US$
3,000. Through the end of 2007 BESA had granted 37,000 loans with a
cumulative disbursement of US$194 million, creating thousands of new
jobs since its inception.
8. (U) Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom: The 2008
Index gives Albanian a 63.3 point rating, moving up from the 66th
place in 2007 to the 56th. Albania's economic freedom ranks above
the world average, but when it comes to freedom from corruption and
adequate property rights Albania's score is among the lowest in the
region. PM Berisha won the 2005 general elections on a pledge of
zero-tolerance against corruption, and has recently reiterated that
TIRANA 00000066 002 OF 002
the fight against the corruption and the informal economy will
continue to be one his top priorities in 2008.
9. (U) Despite the government's efforts to tackle corruption and
secure property rights, progress has been slow, with unsatisfactory
results. The GoA embarked on a number of fiscal and legislative
reforms in 2007, including a flat tax to simplify tax administration
and broaden the base of companies ready to join the formal sector
from the informal. Other measures have been more controversial,
such as a minimal reference salary for calculating personal income
tax, social and health contributions, a reference price for goods,
and set profit margins for selected industries. The business
community charges that these efforts undermine the free market
economy and defy its core principles and have protested loudly over
these changes.
--------------
DIPLOMACY AND CULTURE
--------------
10. (U) The Right Person at the Right Time: Although it has a small
population, Albania's pool of young talented nationals who began
their careers as communism fell is growing in number and experience.
Tonin Gjuraj is one, Albania's current Ambassador to Israel. A
skilled diplomat, he is a sociologist by profession with a doctorate
from Tirana University and M.A. in Society and Politics from the
Central European University.
11. (U) Gjuraj has recently presented to Israelis the case for
Kosovar independence, explaining that Kosovars want to establish an
independent state, not a Muslim nation-state, as some regional
journalists and opinion makers perceive. In an article entitled
"Kosovo Deserves Independence," published in the Jerusalem Post, he
writes that "It is a fundamental mistake to equate religion with
ethnicity." (A misperception that is not limited to Albanians
inside Kosovo's borders, see reftel: "Why Albania is Not a Muslim
Nation"). He argues that "Kosovo Albanians are more European than
any other neighboring country in the Balkans" and their independence
has nothing to do with Islam. Commenting on the article from his
residence in Paris, the iconic (sometimes ironic) novelist Ismail
Kadare stated: "It is rare in Albanian diplomacy that the right
Ambassador happens to be at the right place." Such appointments
should multiply as the next generation wizens and matures.
WITHERS
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EUR/SCE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON PGOV PREL AL
SUBJECT: THIS WEEK IN ALBANIA, JANUARY 18 - 25, 2008
REF: TIRANA 10
1. (U) The following is a weekly report prepared by Embassy
Tirana's local staff to provide political and economic context and
insight into developments in Albania. These updates will supplement
post's DAR reports and reporting cables.
--------------
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
--------------
2. (U) One With the People: Opposition leader Edi Rama continued
his "Dialogue with Albania" by talking to locals in an area that has
traditionally isolated itself with its renegade policies, Lazarat.
This small village is infamous for the illegal cultivation and
export of cannabis - in spite of intermittent government efforts to
crack down on this livelihood. It has been used over the last
decade as a political football by both left and right wing
governments, though neither has managed to reign it in. Rama tried
a populist appeal this week to attempt to bring the village into the
Socialist Party fold. With careful rhetoric he avoided mentioning
"growing weed" and concentrated on "growing together," emphasizing
that "Young people should become the example for politicians, for a
new politics completely different from the deafening and blinding
one - completely different from the politics that does not provide
jobs or schooling, leaving us without a future. It must be
different from the politics that is devastating the Albanian village
and rendering the Albanian city an unlivable place."
-------------- --------------
"As long as we are persistent in our pursuit of our deepest destiny,
we will continue to grow. We cannot choose the day or time when we
will fully bloom. It happens in its own time." Denis Waitley
-------------- --------------
--------------
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS
--------------
4. (U) Time for tanglible results: "Every cloud has a silver
lining" is proving somewhat true in the case of Albania's 2006-2007
energy crises. This winter's energy shortage became the driving
force in accelerating reforms to promote investments in this sector.
The Prime Minister reviewed a record number of investment proposals
for energy generation in 2007 and several previously derailed
projects finally seem to be back on track. Options vary from hydro
and thermal power plants to renewable energy generation and long
term strategies such as nuclear power. The PM announced that in the
not-too-distant future Albania will be an energy exporter rather
than importer in the region, a goal which could be bolstered by the
recent GOA nod to create the largest on-shore wind farm in Europe,
with a total generating capacity of 500 MW. A second undersea power
cable has also been approved, a 400kV cable stretching across the
Otranto channel under the Adriatic Sea, to allow electricity
transmission between Albania and Italy.
5. (U) This focus on energy infrastructure is welcome news to
common citizens who have become increasingly jaded by every new
claim to solve the problem, only to be left the next winter - and
sometimes summer too - without their basic needs being met. In
almost two decades the problem has remained unaddressed, without the
construction of a single energy generation source and no
comprehensive update to the crumbling infrastructure. Albanians
today are eager for tangible results.
6. (U) Albanian Micro Finance in Forbes Top 50: Forbes Magazine
named BESA 43rd in its World's Top 50 Microfinance Institutions.
The list includes just seven institutions from Europe, clustered in
the Western Balkans. Institutions were ranked according to the
scale, efficiency, risk and return equally weighted for overall
ranking.
7. (U) BESA was the micro finance "pioneer," begun as a Soros
Foundation urban micro credit project in 1994. (Today there are six
micro finance lenders in the country.) BESA's assistance reigns
where traditional banks do not, mainly in the agricultural sector,
but also in support of women-owned businesses. The average loan
does not exceed US$4,000 and 55% of the loans are less than US$
3,000. Through the end of 2007 BESA had granted 37,000 loans with a
cumulative disbursement of US$194 million, creating thousands of new
jobs since its inception.
8. (U) Heritage Foundation Index of Economic Freedom: The 2008
Index gives Albanian a 63.3 point rating, moving up from the 66th
place in 2007 to the 56th. Albania's economic freedom ranks above
the world average, but when it comes to freedom from corruption and
adequate property rights Albania's score is among the lowest in the
region. PM Berisha won the 2005 general elections on a pledge of
zero-tolerance against corruption, and has recently reiterated that
TIRANA 00000066 002 OF 002
the fight against the corruption and the informal economy will
continue to be one his top priorities in 2008.
9. (U) Despite the government's efforts to tackle corruption and
secure property rights, progress has been slow, with unsatisfactory
results. The GoA embarked on a number of fiscal and legislative
reforms in 2007, including a flat tax to simplify tax administration
and broaden the base of companies ready to join the formal sector
from the informal. Other measures have been more controversial,
such as a minimal reference salary for calculating personal income
tax, social and health contributions, a reference price for goods,
and set profit margins for selected industries. The business
community charges that these efforts undermine the free market
economy and defy its core principles and have protested loudly over
these changes.
--------------
DIPLOMACY AND CULTURE
--------------
10. (U) The Right Person at the Right Time: Although it has a small
population, Albania's pool of young talented nationals who began
their careers as communism fell is growing in number and experience.
Tonin Gjuraj is one, Albania's current Ambassador to Israel. A
skilled diplomat, he is a sociologist by profession with a doctorate
from Tirana University and M.A. in Society and Politics from the
Central European University.
11. (U) Gjuraj has recently presented to Israelis the case for
Kosovar independence, explaining that Kosovars want to establish an
independent state, not a Muslim nation-state, as some regional
journalists and opinion makers perceive. In an article entitled
"Kosovo Deserves Independence," published in the Jerusalem Post, he
writes that "It is a fundamental mistake to equate religion with
ethnicity." (A misperception that is not limited to Albanians
inside Kosovo's borders, see reftel: "Why Albania is Not a Muslim
Nation"). He argues that "Kosovo Albanians are more European than
any other neighboring country in the Balkans" and their independence
has nothing to do with Islam. Commenting on the article from his
residence in Paris, the iconic (sometimes ironic) novelist Ismail
Kadare stated: "It is rare in Albanian diplomacy that the right
Ambassador happens to be at the right place." Such appointments
should multiply as the next generation wizens and matures.
WITHERS