ICC News

The Hague, 8 December 2017: The Integrity Advantage and Collective Action have been the two themes of the ICC’s International Integrity and Anti-Corruption Conference, a yearly multi-stakeholder conference and an initiative of ICC Netherlands. More than 200 participants gathered in the Peace Palace in The Hague on the 8 of December 2017, to gain insight from speakers including Richard Bistrong, a formerly prosecuted sales and marketing executive, Jan Hommen, former CEO of both KPMG and ING Bank, Emily O’Reilly, European Ombudsman, and Roel Nieuwenkamp, Chairman of the OECD Working group on Corporate Social Responsibility. Albania was present at this event with a diverse profile of speakers including

Tirana, 1 December 2017: We are 2-3 weeks away from the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference [MC11] in Buenos Aires on 10-15 December where we have a genuine chance of making progress towards a more robust global rules framework to support digital trade. Our current trade rules were designed for a pre-digital world so businesses support the urgent need to confirm the application of a global framework that guarantees a level playing field beyond national borders. Digital trade is worth $25 trillion a year to the global economy, with retail e-commerce growing at 1% every two weeks, and contributes 31 million jobs. Technology

Tirana, 23 November 2017: The global business community is clear on the vital role of the multilateral trading system in enabling economic growth, sustainable development and job creation. One area of particular priority, which ICC believes has real potential to deliver on the imperative to make globalisation more inclusive is e-commerce. Recent years have witnessed remarkable developments in the digital economy, creating unprecedented opportunities for cross-border trade. Studies show that micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) that use online platforms are about five times more likely to export than those in the traditional economy. Entrepreneurs in developing economies are already at the

Tirana, 22 November 2017: ICC Albania and Albanian Association of Banks (AAB) in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Economy organized a technical workshop on COSME programme, an EU financial instrument available for SMEs, which took place on the 22nd of November 2017 at Xheko Imperial Hotel. The workshop was organized with the aim of providing financial institutions in Albania with the unique opportunity to become an EU financial intermediary. This event was opened by Ms. Evisi Kopliku – COSME National Coordinator at the Ministry of Finance and Economy. While addressing her welcome remarks Ms. Kopliku said: ‘’COSME is an EU

To read, click Recommendation Paper. Tirana, 15 November 2017: Representatives from the factoring industry in Albania raised some relevant recommendations to authorities and other stakeholders on required actions needed to improve this sector. These recommendations have been prepared by the representatives of the ICC Albania Commission on International Trade and Investment based on the results of the survey conducted to banks and factoring companies, in cooperation with EBRD, during the period July-August 2017. Factoring is considered to be a product designed to offer financing to SMEs, but is also available for other businesses and as an instrument available to finance trade. SMEs are

Tirana, 7 November 2017: EU delegation in Albania opens public consultations with private sector, civil society and other stakeholders in the framework of preparing the Albania 2018 Annual Report. The first consultation meetings were held on the 6th and 7th of November 2017.  Business organizations representatives were present at the dedicated session about the private sector and shared their positions and comments on the developments overseen during the last year in competition policy, financial sector development, public procurement, taxation etc. ICC Albania remains available to collect any opinion and comments from the business community on the related chapters; Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,

20 September 2017, Antwerp: A new paper from Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP), an initiative of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), reports on the role that landlords and property owners can play as intermediaries in the counterfeit or pirated goods supply chain if they lease their premises to those involved in trademark counterfeiting, copyright piracy or other forms of illicit trade. BASCAP presented the new paper, Measures to Engage Landlords in the Fight against Counterfeit and Pirated Goods: Best Practices for Landlords, Governments and Enforcement Agencies today at the Europol IP Crime Conference in Antwerp, Albania. According to the paper,

The 10th World Chambers Congress got underway in Sydney, Australia today bringing together over 1,000 chamber and business leaders from 100 countries for discussion on some of the world’s most pressing challenges. We’ve been covering activities via our Congress app and more widely on social media but here we’ve picked five highlights to sum up an action-packed first day: 1. A royal welcome for participants His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales addressed participants in a recorded video message, saying: “It is increasingly encouraging to know that the mission of promoting responsible business is meeting with an ever more ready audience

19 September 2017, London: The Earth Security Report 2017 was launched today, providing a roadmap for global business to align its growth to the demands for social inclusion and environmental security that are defining the countries in which they operate. Endorsed by International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) as a global outreach partner and supported by HSBC Bank and the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation, the report underlines the need for business to change its approach to align the impact of its operations to the needs of the societies in which they work. The report measures the ‘perfect storm’ of environmental, social

5 September 2017, Tirana: Supporting private sector competitiveness by facilitating SME access to finance and by fostering an enabling business environment, Bank of Albania and the EBRD in partnership with ICC Albania and Factor Chain International held a factoring workshop in Tirana this week. Discussions also focused on ways to support domestic and international trade. In their opening statements, Bank of Albania Deputy Governor, Natasha Ahmetaj, and EBRD Head of Albania, Matteo Colangeli, expressed the importance of factoring as a useful tool for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to access finance that enables their growth and contributes to the development of the