##ly adopted by the bank of albania, allows the albanian economy to withstand these shocks at minimum cost. let us leave this mechanism operate smoothly, without excessive reactions from the market or its agents. any smooth moves towards the exchange rate equilibrium will be in the albanian economy ’ s own interest. any hasty short - term reactions, like the ones we have been attesting to over the course of the present year and in the early days of this week, bring about individual financial cost to those undertaking them, as well as financial cost to the economy. no economic agent is stronger than the foundations. the high volatility and uncertainty in the foreign exchange market do not have any real base. the euroisation of the economy is a visionary idea, not only for albania but for the entire region as well, since its final aspiration is the membership into the european union. it encourages the domestic and the regional market, and the european authorities, to speed up the convergence process. however, convergence in the euro area is a derivative of continuous structural reforms and strengthening of financial systems, wherein the stability of the currency is of prime importance. there can be no european integration without a longterm equilibrium of the national and european currency. in the long run, the exchange rate will inevitably reflect the sound foundations of the albanian economy, which are to remain so. the past years ’ equilibriums remain real indicators of the potentials of the albanian economy. in the long run, we remain deeply convinced of the benefits the free floating exchange rate regime brings about. it will be the passport to and the best support to the albanian economy in its path to european integration. i take this opportunity to invite all the economic agents to consider the benefits, that our national currency provides, impassively, as the best long - term instrument for protecting their savings and as the greatest buffer to wealth volatility. to albania, the lek has been, is and will remain a successful currency. the lek serves as an anchor for all our european initiatives. in the last 17 years, the lek has managed to withstand the inflationary pressures and the pressures deriving from the foreign markets. therefore, it should be left alone. it should move freely on its path, concurrent with the market demand and supply. the lek is the icon of the albanian economy that will guide us through the european gates. i take this opportunity to invite the media to comprehend this message and transmit it to the public at large. before giving the

in the future ; the importance of internal anchors and the study and research of external ones, and ; the need for establishing capacities ; are included in the research work ’ s agenda of the bank of albania. it is a great pleasure that we already have the possibility to cooperate with a remarkable partner as oxford university, a distinguished institution for the high - level research in political and economic sciences. for this collaboration, i hope and i believe that many issues i discussed above would have an answer, partial or a complete one. the one thing i strongly desire is the involvement of as many domestic and regional researchers. i would like to guarantee all the interested persons that we are open in this direction. on the other hand, i am confident that the collaboration we made official today, shall provide a sensitive contribution towards the education and establishment of professional capacities at national level. please allow me to close my speech returning once more to the argument of professional technicians. i still think that we need to educate our technicians ; furthermore, we should make them independent financially and politically ; and afterwards, we should educate them again. on the other hand, the building of capacities is not an “ individual ” issue ; it is an institutions ’ issue ; in fact it is a process independent from human resources. this because capacities should be based on “ processes ” and not on people, for long - living. the good anchors are not used only from institutions which relate policies with them. they are instruments in the hand of public, as strong arguments to encourage government ’ s agencies towards the compilation and implementation of long term sustainable polices. i believe that the european values may play decisive role in this direction, by strengthening and supporting the establishment of respected institutions, where the criticism occurs independently from the political processes and targets. that is the reason we have chosen the collaboration with the oxford university.