Trade Agreements of Albania and their Impact on Agriculture, Imports and Exports

Trade Agreements of Albania and their Impact on Agriculture, Imports and Exports

DJALA, Risilda
HODO, Mergleda

This paper examines the impact that the free trade agreements of Albania have had on the overall economy in general and in agriculture sector, exports and imports in particular, turning out to be increased in significant amounts. These trade agreements have provided the Albanian economy with a competitive advantage and economic space. The long journey of integration for Albania has started with its association in the World Trade Organization (WTO), a great step towards international competitiveness, followed by being part of Central European Free Trade Area (CEFTA). Albania has also free trade agreements with nine countries of the region, including Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Croatia, Yugoslavia and Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria, which are the latest EU members, and by January 2009, the process of ratification from the members of European Union countries finished. This means free exchange of goods and services between these countries by exploiting better their competitive advantages. The possibility of the development of agro-industrial industries continues to be high for Albania, because many products can be exported customs duty zero, facilitating the burden of tariffs and taxes. All analyses done about the impact of the FTA on trade facilitation, price reduction and the volume of imports and exports results that generally in 2008 and especially since 2010, there has been seen a positive trend in the increase of the volume of trade, indicating the positive effect of these agreements in the mentioned sectors. Furthermore, there is a need for deep structural changes, including changing the size of the farm, further development of the land market, increased competitiveness, more domestic production, and an increase the level of public and private investments in the future. Keywords:Agriculture, exports, imports, tariffs, customs duty, impact.

Article
PeerReviewed

ISSN 2303-4564

International Burch University

2014-04-24

2509