Albania Prime Minister Rama has launched a new citizenship by investment program at London conference organized by Henley and Partners, the Guardian reported this week. The biggest conference of the industry was attended by three Prime Ministers of Montenegro, Saint Lucia and Albania in a bid to promote CBI schemes to boost foreign investment in the country.
Albania PM Rama launched Albania’s citizenship-by-investment programme at the conference promising a 10-year tax holiday. He reminded delegates that Albania was an official candidate for accession to the European Union, which would give new Albanian citizens the right to live and work across the bloc”, said The Guardian
According to latest reports from Albanian media, The Albanian citizenship by investment program (ACIP) will be set at USD 100,000 in the country and PM Edi Rama noted in the conference, implying that the Albanian authorities are seriously considering the possibility of a CIP, but are still in the early stages of planning.
“There are risks, but we cannot deny the future of our country, the tremendous potential of this kind of program ”, concluded the prime minister.
Albania if it decides to officially open a CIP, the country will be become the 12th country to join list of countries operating a citizenship by investment. Albania CIP is expected to compete with Montenegro and Moldova and other caribbean countries with the price tag of $100K.
Albania is not the only country that announced new CBI scheme this year. Greece announced a limited citizenship by investment scheme for EUR 2 million euros set to launch in 2020. Only 200 investors will be accepted under this scheme.
In 2012, the Albania already explored the concept of citizenship by investment scheme €100,00 in the country bringing economic benefits. The plan was later abandoned after criticism. In Aug 2019, Albania proposed draft law, that makes changes to citizenship legislation, making way for foreign investors to acquire citizenship for investments.
Under the current rules, the acquisition of citizenship by naturalization requires five years of legally living, knowledge of basic albanian language and not imprisoned for more than 3 years, except for political reasons
As of 1 October 2019, Albanian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 113 countries and territories, ranking the Albanian passport 51st in terms of travel freedom according to Henley rankings.
Albanian citizens already have a visa free access to EU schengen states, however a visa is required to visit United Kingdom, Canada etc.
Albania is the fastest growing country in the eastern europe, with a GDP of $38 billion and a population of 2.8 million. Despite the growth, the country has failed to attract significant foreign investment in the country. Albania continued to be Europe’s poorest country in 2018, according to preliminary data released by Eurostat.
Albania also has the lowest property prices in Europe. The introduction of CBI scheme, will boost real estate sector including development of hotels catering tourism sector, boosting development and economic growth in Albania.
Albania applied for European Union (EU) membership on 28 April 2009, and has since June 2014 been an official candidate for accession to the EU, and is on the current agenda for future enlargement of the EU. Albania is currently receiving €1.2bn of developmental aid until 2020 from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, a funding mechanism for EU candidate countries.
Albania visited by 4 million tourists visiting every year contributing to 8% of GDP. Albania has significant oil and natural gas reserves and a significant minerals producer and is ranked among the world’s leading chromium producers.
