Albanian Performance in Target Achievements toward 2020 Growth Strategy

Albanian Performance in Target Achievements toward 2020 Growth Strategy

HYSA, Eglantina

Albania being part of South East Europe is trying to meet the standards of European Union by stating a clear vision for 2020 growth strategy, which is similar to European Union’s “Europe 2020 Growth Strategy”. This strategy consists of economic reforms implementation according to five growth pillars: 1- Integrated growth; 2- Smart growth; 3- Sustainable growth; 4- Inclusive growth; and 5- Governance for growth. Albania strives to achieve the EU standards in order to be considered for a further inclusion to EU, but from the other side it has to cooperate with SEE countries in order benefit from a win-win situation. The first aim of this study is the analysis of the Albanian economic conditions comparing to the other SEE countries. Albania is generally founded below the SEE averages in the growth pillar achievements. Meanwhile there are some components of these pillars where Albania shows a better performance but still too far from the European Union countries. This list includes indicators such as: estimated software piracy rates related to smart growth, entrepreneurship related to sustainable growth, employment (15+) related to Inclusive growth. The second aim is the comparison of the present and the future of Albania taking into the consideration the reforms to meet the 2020 growth targets. Although the time left, less than six year, is very limited to meet the above mentioned strategy, Albania has its capacities to fulfill all the tasks. Lastly, this study draws some specific recommendations and conclusions for the Albanian case based on the above figures and on the new reforms of the last elected government in Albania. Keywords: Economic Growth, European Union, SEE Countries, Albania.

Article
PeerReviewed

ISSN 2303-4564

International Burch University

2014-04-24

2515