The Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Albania recently met with Speaker of Parliament Josefina Topalli. AmCham leaders gave the head of parliament the AmCham Business Agenda – the basic document of the chamber’s work – and discussed possible forms of cooperation between the business community and the country’s parliament.

During the meeting, AmCham board members expressed readiness to cooperate with the parliament at the institutional level and to bring the chamber’s expertise during discussion of laws that affect businesses. This is also one of the main points of the business agenda AmCham has submitted to the government and to Ms. Topalli.

Having input from the business community in approval of new legislation is one of the fundamental issues addressed by the agenda.

Business representatives need sufficient time to review and comment on draft laws, and the parliament should have that input when it adopts a new law, AmCham notes.

The head of parliament had a positive reaction to the request, and showed she was willing and ready to cooperate with AmCham in an institutional manner, using the avenues provided in the regulations that govern how parliament and parliamentary committees operate.

The Speaker of Parliament also added she will make it part of parliamentary procedure to require the Economy Commission staff to maintain regular ties with AmCham and other business organizations so they have timely information on what happens at the commission, enabling the to better engage in discussions about draft laws.

AmCham assessed the meeting with Ms. Topalli as extremely important and appreciates the head of parliament’s positive stance to create real avenues of cooperation to help Albania’s business environment and to create effective work ties that assist in the development of the country’s economy.