The American Chamber of Commerce’s Business Index for 2020 revealed that business confidence in Albania dropped by 0,5 % to 37.6 out of 100. While the drop is comparatively minor, this marks the lowest rate since the index’s inception in 2012.
The Index is released yearly and measures the business climate in Albania by surveying the perceptions of AmCham’s 220 members—that include American, foreign, and local companies.
According to the 2020 Index, “[m]ore than 71% of AmCham members perceived the business climate in Albania as unfavorable, while 9%
consider it as positive and 20% as neutral.”
Overall business sentiment suffered a significant 5% drop the previous year and did not recover over 2020, because of the pandemic’s impact on the economy and investment-related indicators.
The report did note some improvements in areas such as “internal political climate,” “corruption level,” and ““Monopoly and Unfair Competition.”
Despite this, several of these indicators remain in the “red zone,” requiring significant intervention. “Performance of the Albanian economy” received the lowest score, with informal economy, corruption, and government bureaucracy also achieving low results.
On the other end of the spectrum, participants had good perceptions of their relations with local institutions and authorities.
The report remarks that while many of AmCham’s members are committed to investing in Albania, further reforms are needed to make investing easier and fairer.
