ardian fullani : financial stability issues and cooperation at a regional level speech by mr ardian fullani, governor of the bank of albania, at the bank of albania ’ s 6th international conference, “ regional financial markets and financial stability – a concept between national sovereignty and globalisation ”, tirana, 31 october 2006. * * * dear participants, ladies and gentlemen, when we thought about the topic of this annual conference, there was no doubt about the need to dedicate it to financial stability issues and the cooperation at a regional level. the current time seem to be appropriate because of the developments in the national financial markets and economic developments, as well as in the speed with which the region is moving ahead in adopting best international standards in good governance, market openness and integration, technological improvements and multilateral cooperation. in my speech today, i will touch upon similarities and differences, but also uncertainties and risks that our financial markets are experiencing in the path toward modernisation and integration in the global financial markets, and will try to address the importance of regional cooperation in better facing these challenges. i will conclude with some thoughts about practical regional cooperation, which i am sharing with you, hoping to generate further discussions. at a regional level, our countries are experiencing nowadays a higher growth rate of the financial markets, compared to that of the economic growth. as a consequence, the weight of the financial sector in the national economies, strictly from a quantitative perspective, is growing. at the same time, expansion is accompanied with changes in the market ability to better accommodate market participants needs for funding, diversification and risk appetite. undoubtedly, institutional participants in the financial markets find themselves with a larger number of possibilities for business developments and financial specialization. in addition, general public interest in using financial market products and services has increased dramatically based on the benefit they perceive from improved efficiency in everyday life activities. these developments highlight the importance of financial markets for our economic well - being, from a qualitative perspective. let ’ s also recall that economic improvements trigger and support changes in social and cultural aspects of our life, bringing our nations closer to international values and principles, and to each other. as expected, because of the historical background, our countries have differed in the speed and in the depth, with which they have moved along the transition phase in the last decade. while we had many similarities in adopting the first basic and urgent reforms including price liberalization, enterprise restructuring and privatization in some economic areas, we were more distinctive in

gent sejko : effectively using remittances sent by albanians abroad address by mr gent sejko, governor of the bank of albania, at the high - level meeting on the remittances from the albanian diaspora, tirana, 11 december 2017. * * * dear minister majko, dear guests, welcome to the premises of the bank of albania! i would like first to thank the minister of state for the diaspora, mr pandeli majko, for his initiative for higher attention to drawing in and effectively using the remittances sent by albanians abroad. today ’ s meeting is the first in a series of common steps to be taken by albanian institutions, in an effort to give its due place to the financial contribution by albanian emigrants to the welfare of their families at home. this contribution is also vital for the sustainable and long - term development of the albanian economy. the bank of albania has always considered the remittances as a very important contributing factor for the economy of albania and beyond. in this light, the bank of albania measures and analyses the available statistics, and conducts non - quantitative assessments related to the geographical distribution of the sources of remittances, at the national and international level. the assessment of factors contributing to the level of remittances and the cyclical volatility of their flows over the years remains at the focus of our work. for albania, remittances represent a steady and considerable source of inflows, which surpass foreign direct investments, being thus a substantial source of financing economic growth in albania. in this regard, the bank of albania considers remittances as an important source of income in the economy and a contributor to the balance of payments. from a narrower perspective, remittances are estimated to have a significant impact on albanian households, for reducing the poverty and improving the quality of life. even in the case of albania, the studies performed by the bank of albania and the world bank show that the income from remittances are allocated mainly for consumption, medication, and education, as well as for savings and investments, the latter mainly for residential properties. in addition to the above, the bank of albania treats remittances also from the perspective of their inflow channels in the albanian economy. recent studies show that the formal transfer channels dominate, mainly through money transfer financial institutions, and less through banks. in the meantime, remittances in cash remain at