The Governor of the Bank of Albania, Gent Sejko, received today in an official meeting a delegation from the Central Bank of Germany, headed by Burkhard Balz, member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank.
This meeting took place within the framework of the Program for “Strengthening the capacities of Central Banks in the Western Balkans with a focus on integration into the European System of Central Banks” and the cooperation so far of the Bank of Albania (BSH) and Deutsche Bundensbank in relation to this program.
The visit of representatives of the Deutsche Bundesbank aims to get to know the institutions that are part of the program, the general evaluation of their benefit from this program, as well as the determination of needs for the future.
Governor Sejko thanked Balz for the meeting, evaluating as very fruitful the cooperation so far within the Program, which aims to strengthen the capacities of the beneficiary institutions,mainly through the further improvement of their analytical and political instruments, through the acquisition of the best international and European standards in national practices. The program is supported by the European Union (EU), through its Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA III).
Sejko said that during the first phase of the program, around 80 employees of the Bank of Albania were trained, while during the implementation of the second phase, 24 employees have been trained so far, and a bilateral cooperation has been established between the staff of the Bank of Albania and the Bank of Spain. Meanwhile, in the second component at the national level, 6 bilateral coperations and 3 10-day internships are foreseen, from which about 70 BSH employees will benefit.
The activities of the two components – regional and local – focus on specific topics related to the tasks of the central bank and financial supervision. These topics are addressed at an advanced level and include: accounting; AML/CFT; extraordinary intervention; banking supervision; money management; communication; EU integration; consumer financial protection, financial inclusion and financial education; governance issues including strategic management, crisis management and operational sustainability; green and sustainable finance; internal audit; information technology; implementation of monetary policy; payment systems; monetary and financial stability research and statistics.
Balz congratulated the authorities for the progress made in the professional and institutional aspect, which has helped Albania on its path of economic and social development. Also, he expressed his willingness and that of the Bundesbank to help Albania in the process of European integration.
Also, during the meeting, the importance of international technical cooperation was reconfirmed as an instrument for institutional dialogue, as well as the further development of exchanges of experiences on topics such as banking supervision, payment systems, cyber security, etc.
The Central Bank of Germany has the leading and implementing role of the Program for “Strengthening the capacities of Central Banks in the Western Balkans with a focus on integration into the European System of Central Banks”.
She chairs the Steering Committee of the program and has prepared the Cooperation Agreements on behalf of the 19 central banks of the beneficiary countries and the European Central Bank.
