European union – albania stabilisation and association committee 11 March 2015 table of contents political criteria 3
|
|  Yüklə 2.37 Mb.
|
6.2 TRADE, INDUSTRY, CUSTOMS AND TAXATIONFollow-up of the 2014 Progress Report and the conclusions of the October 2014 Subcommittee meeting with focus on:The National Strategy on Quality Infrastructure, as part of the national Strategy on Consumer Protection and Market Surveillance, was sent to the Council of Ministers for approval in early July 2014. Endorsement is expected in March 2015. Progress continued in the area of standardisation, with 1,304 standards adopted since the last subcommittee meeting; of these, 1,133 are European standards (476 CENs, 133 CENELECs, 524 ETSIs) and 171 International standards (84 ISO and 87 IEC). All standards are adopted only by cover page method. In total, 19,152 European standards (1,285 ETSIs, 5,056 CENELECs and 12,811 CENs) and 3,034 international standards (ISO & IEC) are adopted as Albanian standards. European harmonised standards are adopted 100% as Albanian harmonized standards. In the area of accreditation, there are 41 accredited conformity assessment bodies (26 labs, 12 inspection bodies and 3 certification bodies). An EA peer evaluation mission was conducted at DPA during 23-27 February. The mission concluded that DPA operates in line with international standards and recommended that DPA become signatory party to the EA- Multilateral Agreement on Testing Laboratories according to ISO/IEC 17025, provided that its findings are addressed adequately. DPA commits itself to address these findings within one month to proceed with mutual recognition according to EA guidelines. Moreover, DPA applied for full membership to EA on 30 January 2015. In the area of metrology, four labs initiated the application procedure to an accreditation body recognized by European and World Accreditation organisations. Albania will update on the state of play of the preparation and adoption of the draft industrial strategy13 The draft industrial strategy is being prepared. The draft will be finalised and consulted with different stakeholders in March 2015, including Konfindustria, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tirana, etc. Further, technical assistance will be requested from UNIDO for an assessment of the draft. Upon receiving a positive assessment from UNIDO, the legal procedures for the approval of the draft Strategy will be started. Industrial policy of SME The Decision of Council of Ministers No 635 of 1.10.2014 “On the approval of the Business and Investment Development Strategy and its Action Plan, 2014 – 2020” was approved. The Strategy defines the primary objectives to be achieved by 2020: Albania as a country that develops and improves the business and SMEs environment, a competitive open market, develops industrial SMEs, an attractive destination for investments, and inclusive and sustainable growth. The Strategy and its Action Plan was submitted to EU Delegation in Albania. Decision of Council of Ministers No 611 of 17.09.2014 “On the approval of the National Action Plan for the implementation of the Regional South East Europe Strategy 2014 – 2020” was approved. The objective of the National Plan is the implementation of measures that allow meeting the Target Headlines of SEE 2020 and to provide a consolidated national platform in this regard. It reflects the policies in accordance with the dimensions of SEE 2020 and allows the monitoring of key indicators aiming to meet the regional objectives. Doing Business reform Doing Business ranked Albania at the 108th place in its 2014 Ease of Doing Business Index14. Therefore, an inter-institutional working group chaired by the Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Entrepreneurship was set up according to the Order of Prime Minister No 30 of 30.01.2014. The group was tasked to prepare a set of measures to implement the programme of the Albanian government for a substantial and sustainable improvement of business climate. The working group assessed the situation and proposed a set of measures to improve business climate through a deep deregulation reform with the aim of reducing regulatory burden. The measures will be implemented during 2014 – 2016. The measures were consulted with the business and approved with the Decision of Council of Ministers No 591 of 10.09.2014 “On the approval of the Action Plan for the improvement and monitoring of Doing Business indicators”. The Decision laid down as well, the rules on the monitoring of the implementation of the Action Plan and its update and introduction of new measures and/or reforms. Working sub-groups were set up to monitor the implementation of measures for each indicator. The reforms undertaken during June 2013 – May 2014 improved substantially Albania’s ranking in Doing Business 2015 by 40 places to 68th place out of 189 economies. The monitoring report on the implementation of the Action Plan will be prepared in March 2015.
Law No 8/2015 of 19.02.2015 “On some amendments addenda to Law No 9723 of 3.05.2007 ‘On the National Registration Centre” was adopted. The Law will enable online registration and notification of financial balance sheet and audit reports. IT infrastructure at NRC is set up and the e-registration process is being tested.
The Strategic Plan of the Bankruptcy Supervisory Agency (BSA) was prepared and is being implemented. A new draft law on bankruptcy is prepared with the support of International Financial Corporation (IFC). Please find the draft law on bankruptcy in English attached as Annex 6.2.1. For further information on the activity of the Bankruptcy Supervisory Agency, please see Point 4: Economic Criteria, Subpoint Follow up of the October 2014 Subcommittee meeting.
According to Albanian legislation in force, the licenses and permits are issued by or through the National Licensing Centre (NLC) while authorisations are still issued by the line ministries. The reform aims to improve the procedures by including the authorisations within the NLC system. To this purpose, the Law No 6/2015 of 12.02.2015 “On some amendments and addenda to Law No 10081 of 23.02.2009 “On licences, authorisations and permits in the Republic of Albania” was adopted. According to the Law, the authorisations listed in this Law, will be issued by or through the NLC. The review of all authorisations issued by line ministries is in process.
In 2014, the Albanian government introduced a package of measures to support inward processing industry in Albania. The analysis shows that the implemented measures, compared to 2013, provided: (i) Sectoral exports increased from 495 million Euros in 2013 to 614 million Euro, or by 24%; (ii) 30 new inward processing companies were registered, (iii) 5,000 new jobs were opened, (iv) benefits from the employment and training fund increased to 271 million ALL and 60% of this amount was addressed to inward processing industry, (v) volume of contracts in the inward processing industry increased by 31%. Strengthening the capacities of SMEs through different Funds set up by the Albanian Government resulted positive in 2014
The lending SMEs scheme In 2014, under the Italian-Albanian Program for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in Albania (PRODAPS), that entered into force on 12 July 2014, there were financed 17 projects indifferent economic sectors like dairy and food processing, olive oil production, production of prefabricated construction elements, furniture, poultry etc. the programme, supported by the Italian government, provides 15 million Euro in financial support, from which 11 million Euro will support a credit line for SME-s, 2.5 million Euro will finance a Guarantee Fund and the rest will be used to finance technical assistance to SME-s. Participation of Albania in COSME15 The COSME Agreement between Albania and the EU was signed on March 3, 2015 in Brussels. The next step will be the ratification of the Agreement by the Albanian Parliament. In January 2015 Albania expressed the interest to participate in two calls for proposal, respectively:
by submitting two project proposals. Albania - Enterprise Development & Innovation Facility (WB EDIF)16 Albania will receive from the Secretariat of the Western Balkans Enterprise Development & Innovation Facility (WB EDIF)/ European Investment Fund (EIF) the final draft of the Limited Partnership Agreement (LPA), which will be approved by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Albania. The signing and the entry into force of this Agreement will empower Albanian Investment Development Agency (AIDA) to sign an agreement with the Enterprise Innovation Fund (ENIF). Albania on the other side, will pay the participation fee in ENIF of 400,000 Euro, divided in 10 years. Albania has proposed to the Secretariat of WB EDIF the organisation in Albania of a awareness raising campaign, because the business community is very little informed on the EDIF and the eligibility criteria of the three components ENIF, ENEF and GF. In the framework of the WB EDIF Technical Assistance Facility, with the support of the OECD project “Triple Helix”, the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Entrepreneurship organised the Best Practice Sharing seminar on 21 October 2014, in Tirana. The purpose of this seminar was to share examples of best practices of tripartite partnership “government – universities – private sector” in OECD member countries and transition countries with local stakeholders. Various examples of potential policy instruments to support Triple Helix partnerships were presented, such as the Swedish Practice on Vinnova, the public innovation financing, the Accelerator of Innovation in Flanders, the Ljubljana Technology Park, as well as the Croatian Technology Park Varazin. Tourism17 Institutional framework Since 2013, the tourism sector was under the responsibility of the Ministry of Urban Development and Tourism. In February 2014, tourism was put under the responsibility of the Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Entrepreneurship, currently entitled as the Ministry of Economic Development, Tourism, Trade and Entrepreneurship. Legislative development The draft law “On tourism” was finalized reflecting the inputs of all stakeholders and other public authorities. The draft law also included the UNWTO opinions and is harmonized with the draft law on “On Strategic Investments”. The draft law “On Tourism” was endorsed by the Council of Ministers on 4 March 2015 and is submitted to the Parliament for adoption. Referring to the recommendation of the 2014 Subcommittee on Economic and Financial Issues and Statistics, the following information can be provided:
Tourism Development Strategy 2014 – 2020 The draft Tourism Development Strategy 2014 – 2020, was submitted for suggestions to line ministries. The suggestions and remarks of line ministries, Department of Development Programming, Financing & Foreign Aid at the Council of Ministers and stakeholders are being incorporated in the draft. The draft will be approved by the Council of Ministers in 2015. Tourism Statistics Based on data reported by the General Directorate of State Police, the Bank of Albania and INSTAT, statistical data on travel and tourism for the period January – September (9 months) 2014, are as follows: The number of foreign visitors in Albania grew by 13% compared to the same period last year. The majority of foreign visitors came from Kosovo, FYROM, Greece, Montenegro, Italy, Germany, England, USA, Poland, Turkey etc. Tourism revenues from travel/tourism during this period grew by 24% compared with the same period a year ago. Tourism expenditures for travel/tourism grew by 16% compared with the same period last year. The number of overnights during the first 9 months of 2014, recorded a positive trend compared with the same period last year. The total number of overnights grew by 32% compared with a year ago. Latest legislative developments in taxation
Taxation of non-residents i.e. types of income which are taxed in Albania, tax rates and application of bilateral tax conventions Regarding the income of the non-resident taxpayers that perform through a permanent establishment in Albania, by the meaning of Law on “Income Tax”, pursuant to the provisions of paragraph 2 of the article 17 "Obligation to Pay", of the Law nr.8438, dated 28.12.1998 "On Income Tax, as amended", or by the meaning of the provisions of tax treaties in force, the rate of income tax applied is 15% (article 28 of the Law nr. 8438, dated 28.12.1998). Even according to the principle expressed in Article 5 "permanent establishment" and Article 7 "Gains of Enterprises", to any applicable tax agreements, the income that the non-resident taxpayers benefit from the exercise of activity through a permanent establishment in the Republic of Albania, are taxed in Albania (only the income that belong to the permanent establishment). The provisions of article 33, of Law on Income Tax no.8438, dated 28.12.1998, as amended, require withholding tax at source at the rate 15% 18from the following payments that are made to non-residents:
In case of the Tax Agreements’ in force, are applied the provisions of tax treaties which have precedence over domestic law provisions. Almost in all the Tax Agreements applicable to passive income (dividends, interest and royalties), Albania applies withholding tax when the payer is a resident of Albania and the recipient is a non-resident. The rate of withholding tax on such income is determined on the Tax Agreement. In the table below, you will find information regarding withholding tax applied to dividends, interest and royalties for any applicable tax treaty. Data for the Double Taxation Agreements
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||