Head of the Albanian EITI Secretariat, Mr.Ardit Kamberi meets with Deputy Head of Mission at Swiss Embassy in Albania, Mr. Philipp Keller

Head of the Albanian EITI Secretariat, Mr.Ardit Kamberi meets with Deputy Head of Mission at Swiss Embassy in Albania, Mr. Philipp Keller

The Head of the EITI Secretariat, Ardit Kamberi, had a meeting with Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Switzerland, Philipp Keller on February 8, 2018, at the Albanian EITI premises.

They discussed the existing potentials for cooperation to ensure transparency in natural resource management, and identified the concrete areas where the Swiss government can provide financial and technical assistance.

Mr. Kamberi gave a detailed overview on the activity of the Albanian EITI Secretariat, which aims to promote both transparency in programming, contracting, licensing, production and exploitation of natural resources and good governance of revenues deriving from the Mining, Petroleum and Hydro-power sectors in Albania.

The Albanian EITI Secretariat interacts and coordinates institutional activities with the three stakeholders of the Triangle: Government, Companies and Civil Society, in order to provide the public with transparent and real-time reporting, in line with international standards, over production activity in extractive industries and fiscal financial results which are regularly disclosed by the companies.

Albania is the only country in the region that is a member of the Global EITI Initiative and by mid-February 2018, the Albanian EITI Secretariat published its Eighth Official Report which covers extractive and energy activities in the country for the year 2016.

The Work Plan prepared by the EITI Secretariat for 2018 addresses the following priorities: Improve the legal framework for Transparency in Natural Resource Management; Develop plans for Beneficial Ownership disclosure in extractive  industries; Report revenues coming from the activity of state-owned enterprises; Improve the electronic database covering the whole life cycle of extractive projects; Increase public awareness regarding Albania’s advantages as a member of the Global EITI Initiative; Conclude the process for the establishment of the Mining Cadastre, etc.

During the meeting, Kamberi also specified the fields of cooperation between the Albanian and Swiss governments, such as: Impacts on Environment from Extractive Industries in the country; Increasing revenue for local communities where extractive companies operate; Strengthening the MSG’s role and capacity in these processes; Upgrading Open Data Portal in coordination with the Albanian EITI.

Deputy Head of Mission, Keller, underlined the support of Swiss government for Albania in: Capacity building for large gas projects, energy efficiency and resource diversification, etc.

Mr. Keller expressed his commitment to work with the Albanian EITI to identify the priorities and fields where the Swiss government can specifically contribute to increase Transparency in the use and good governance of natural resources in Albania, particularly in the oil, gas, mining and energy sectors.

During the meeting, the parties expressed their commitment to start cooperation as soon as possible on issues that have to do mainly with: Buildng professional and technical capacities in state institutions; Environmental Impacts of Extractive Activities; Strengthening the role of the Multi-Stakeholder Group; Media campaigns to raise public awareness on the importance of promoting Transparency in the use of natural resources in Albania.