, even further, in the external market, so that the trade balance keeps on showing the improvements of 2013. export growth is important in the long run to offset the moments of weakness in domestic demand, by diversifying the sources of income. although the economy benefits from the increase in the exports of mineral products, the latter are often exported without any sort of processing in the domestic market and, consequently, make little contribution to improving productivity and competitiveness of the albanian economy. bank of albania ’ s research and analyses show that traded goods ’ sector has shown increasing productivity compared to the non - traded one. during the 2000s, the albanian economy was most focused on non - traded sectors like construction, and hotels and tourism, with a low share in the growth of productivity. improving them and successfully facing competition in the international markets should lie at the core of albania ’ s new economic growth model. bank of albania ’ s analyses suggest that these structural changes will contribute to recovering the economy at a faster pace in the years ahead and restoring the previous growth rates. the agriculture sector meets the above criteria to lie at the core of this new model better than any other economic sector. on the other hand, we must recognise that despite albania ’ s vast natural resources, we have not managed to fully utilise these potential resources for the agriculture sector to face competition in the international markets. the bank of albania sees great potential in agriculture, which, for a number of reasons, could not materialise in the past years but can become more beneficial in the future. unlike other sectors, whose future benefits may be limited, agriculture may represent an important source for a second period of dynamic economic growth. the albanian economy should be re - oriented towards those sectors whose capacity to compete in the international markets is the best signal for the development potential. the albanian economy being a net importer of food products hints at a low level of competitiveness and represents one of the major future challenges. lushnja is one of the main regions of the albanian agriculture the recovery of our economy should start from – and holding this meeting here today is not mere coincidence. bis central bankers ’ speeches bank of albania ’ s analyses have been paying increasing attention to developments and related perspectives in this sector. as we speak, 47 % of the albanian population and around 49 % of the labour force lives in rural areas and engages in agriculture - related activities. according to the latest data for 2012, around 24 % of the land area is used to cultivate different agriculture

gent sejko : enhancing bank of albania ’ s alignment with eu acquis address by mr gent sejko, governor of the bank of albania, at the launching ceremony of the twinning project “ enhancing bank of albania ’ s alignment with eu acquis ”, tirana, 19 december 2019. * * * your excellencies ambassadors, representatives of banca d ’ italia and deutsche bundesbank, ladies and gentlemen, dear guests, i have the pleasure, as the governor of the bank of albania, to welcome you to the launching ceremony of the twinning project on “ enhancing bank of albania ’ s alignment with eu acquis ”. the project is financed with ipa 2015 eu funds, following a previous project on needs analysis for the bank of albania – designed and led by the ecb in partnership with 11 central banks of the european system of central banks. from this perspective, the new twinning project we are launching today may be considered a continuation of the previous one, given that it will address a significant number of recommendations from 2014. hoping that in the spring of 2020 we will see a green light for the opening of accession negotiations for albania, i would like to reassure you of bank of albania ’ s commitment to fulfilling priorities arising from the european integration process. major objectives for strengthening the long - term capacities of the institution coincide with the approximation of its legal, regulatory and operational frameworks to that of the european system of central banks. i would like to emphasise that undertaking such projects emphasises the mutual engagement of the eu and albania with regard to deepening integration processes of our country, and reiterates albania ’ s european perspective. dear ladies and gentlemen, in the last decade, bank of albania has implemented a number of eu - funded projects. the first twinning project was implemented during 2012 – 2013. at that time, like now, banca d ’ italia – in partnership with banque de france – contributed successfully to achieving concrete results in six areas of bank of albania ’ s activity. the second project – needs analysis for bank of albania ’ s approximation, funded by the eu – was led by the european central bank and was implemented during 2014. the aim of the sixmonth project was to assess the legal, regulatory and operational frameworks of the bank of albania vis - a - vis standards and best practices applied in european central banks. from this perspective, it should be underlined that the recommendations left upon the completion of this project are