in the long term. moreover, the bank of albania has dedicated particular attention to guaranteeing the security and efficiency of the core infrastructure of payments in lek, through its role as operator, overseer and catalyst of the payment systems. the finalisation of the draft - law “ on payment services ”, which transposes the relevant eu directive ( psd 2 ), is one of the main achievements on the improvement of the legal framework. its approval and implementation is expected to foster competition and promote innovation in retail payments, cut costs, enhance transparency of these services, and provide a framework on consumer ’ s protection. in parallel, the national payment system committee, chaired by the bank of albania and bringing together public and private stakeholders in the field of payments, approved the albanian national retail payments strategy ( 2018 – 2023 ). the scope of the strategy is to improve the retail payments market, promote the use of electronic payment instruments and broaden the financial inclusion of the population. 4. governance and other activities the accomplishment of our primary development objectives evidences the professional work of bank of albania staff and of the constant prudence of the supervisory council, as the steering and monitoring body over the activity of the bank of albania. in addition to the monetary policy and financial stability - related issues, other important decisions of the supervisory council in 2018, were : ( i ) approval of the policy for the oversight of payment and settlement systems ; ( ii ) approval of the accounting policy in accordance with the international financial reporting standards ; and, ( iii ) approval of the medium - term development strategy of the bank of albania for 2019 – 2021. the strategy upheld the existing mission, vision, and values and updated the list of duties for fulfilling them. in parallel, the supervisory council has monitored continuously the governance of the institution and has worked towards its improvement. in conclusion, i would like to emphasise that the bank of albania has realised its duties and accomplished its commitments in other fields of its activity, which have a direct or indirect impact on economic and financial developments in albania. more specifically, progress has been made on : support for european integration processes, through both specific contributions to the respective chapters and constant dialogue with european partners ; administration of the circulation of the national currency and the adaptation of its structure to the needs of the economy ; management of the foreign exchange reserve, in line with reserve - holding objectives and in the presence of a challenging external financial environment ; improvement of scientific research, to support informed and efficient decision -

, but a part of them are yet relevant. nevertheless, i think that some of them are towards addressing, while the other obstacles should become part of a critical assessment and their solution should be an integral part of our next work agenda. in more concrete terms, the first reason on the back of low lending rate is related to the high risk – both real and perceived – that investment in agriculture bears. however, i think this risk is being reduced. on the one hand, the improved support to agricultural production, the improved roots network and the consolidated trade chain for the supply of the inputs in the market, drive to the improvement of this sector ’ s business. on the other hand, promoting agritourism and supporting agribusiness, grow the value added chain and profitability of investment in agriculture. in this context, i would like to greet the albania agribusiness and tourism support facility 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches ( aatsf ), which includes the joint contribution of the albanian government and the european bank for reconstruction and development ( ebrd ). this facility provides a significant contribution, around eur 150 million, in both forms : direct loans and supportive guarantee for lending. to this end, by seeing the positive reaction that banking sector is displaying towards this scheme, with four banks already becoming part of it, i would like to encourage the other banks to adopt a more positive approach towards this sector. also, i would like to emphasise that global experience suggests the promotion of private insurance schemes to address risk reduction in agricultural. in future these schemes should become an integral part of this equation. the second reason on the back of low lending rate in agriculture is related to the fragmentation of agricultural land. this fragmentation limits the potential of the economy of scale, reduces the productivity of this sector, and turns it less attractive to the banking industry. in figures, referring to the data of the european commission, a typical albanian farm owns averagely 1. 2 ha land, compared to the average of around 14 ha in europe. at the same time, according to instat data, around 99. 6 % of agricultural businesses hire one to four employees. this ratio is notably higher than the average of other economy sectors. in this context, detaching from the negative emotions that may stem from the memory of the inefficient cooperatives during the communism period, i think that there is a need for higher awareness of the albanian farmer about building on partnerships and collective