Albania
Albania signs a $13.85 million Millennium Challenge Corporation Threshold Program to tackle corruption and improve the environment for businesses to operate.
To support Albania's fight against corruption, the Government of Albania has proposed a Threshold program that will reform tax administration, public procurement and business registration.
Threshold Program Overview
The Government of Albania has requested MCC assistance to fund three specific initiatives over 24 months, highlights of which are listed below:
Reduce Corruption in Tax Policy and Administration:
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Limit tax officials' personal interaction with taxpayers and their discretion in tax assessment and collection
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Broaden the tax base by including a larger percentage of the economy
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Improve tax collection by upgrading information technology applications
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Upgrade technical expertise and improve procedures by providing training and manuals to tax collectors, internal auditors and the judiciary
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Create a better and more efficient legal tax environment
Reduce Corruption and Realize Transparency in Government Procurements:
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Improve transparency and facilitate public scrutiny of procurement procedures
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Enhance institutional mechanisms to detect, deter, and punish corrupt practices
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Bring the existing public procurement system into fuller compliance with the 1995 public procurement law
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Strengthen technical capacities at the Public Procurement Agency to enable it to function as an oversight body over other government procurement entities
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Provide continuous, professional and sustainable training for procurement officers at all procuring entities to elevate skill levels and strengthen commitment to the enhanced procurement process
Combating Corruption in Business Entry and Registration in Albania -- Establishment of a National Business Center (NBC):
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Create a unified registration form and simplified registration procedures
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Establishment of a single office (the NBC) where businesses can file electronically all documents needed to set up a new enterprise or renew the registration of an existing one
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Revise administrative rules so that approval is automatically granted if a relevant agency does not respond within a given time
Expected Results:
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Increase the total tax collected by the Large Taxpayers Office to 50 percent from the current 30.4 percent
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Reduce from 42 to 13 the percentage of firms stating that bribery in tax collection is frequent
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Reduce by 20 percent the cost of governmental procurements (adjusted by volume, currency and inflation)
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Reduce the value of the gift expected to be paid to obtain a government contract from 6.15 percent to 2 percent.
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Increase from 625 to 1000 the number of new businesses registered monthly
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Reduce the total registration cost as percentage of income per capita from 31 percent to 13 percent;
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Reduce the percentage of businesses that consider corruption a big obstacle to operation and growth from 69 percent to 30 percent;
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Reduce the percentage of businesses that paid a bribe to register from 19 percent to 5 percent
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Reduce from 47 to 1 the number of days it takes to register a business
Implementation:
The United States Agency for International Development will oversee implementation of the program on behalf of the Government of Albania.