PRESS RELEASE
Vice Governor Minxhozi Opening remarks at the Workshop “Technical and Legal Aspects of Connecting to SEPA Schemes

Dear representatives of the World Bank, the European Payment Council and the European Central Bank, 

Dear participants,

It is my great pleasure to open this Workshop which will focus on SEPA and the respective institutions’ membership in these schemas. I have already highlighted in our previous discussions that Albania’s membership in SEPA was a historical moment regarding both our country’s integration as well as the benefits, efficiency and the opportunities this membership provides to our economy, and the banking and financial markets. 

However, this membership does not mean that our work has been completed; our next challenge lies with you to fulfil all the steps necessary that constitute the membership in SEPA schemes, starting from April of current year. This will allow citizens, businesses and all market agents to benefit from its advantages. 

In this regard, I would like to encourage you once again to be proactive in fulfilling this objective, a process which is entirely depended on you. The Bank of Albania and all its partner institutions including the World Bank, the European Payment Council and the European Central Bank will be your main supporters and guides along this journey. 

Although this journey is done individually, it demands that the cooperation and engagement amongst you is strong, so that it runs with the required speed and efficiency. I would like to bring to your attention that membership in SEPA allows you to bring a new dimension in the future of the services you provide.  In addition to the abovementioned benefits this membership provides to the citizens, businesses and the economy overall, it also puts you in a vanguard position compared to other countries in the region, which are not SEPA members but where you are present. On the other hand, membership in SEPA is creating the necessary preconditions to prepare you for the full European Union integration.   

To this end, it is necessary to stress out the fact that you should give this project the importance and priority it entails, and recognize that it is the first step toward an ambitious and challenging journey, which will have a broader impact than just being able to offer a new service.  

In this regard, your full engagement in other payment area projects, such as open banking and instant payment is required. These projects are tightly intertwined in preparing our market for the European future and the needed innovations required to withstand competition.  

Thanks to the visionary and strategic outlook of the Bank of Albania, and the support of the Albanian government as well, the operationalisation of open banking and instant payment is fully based on EU standards and practices, allowing the market to have a smooth and efficient transition. 

Concluding, I would like to thank the World Bank for its support throughout the years in the field of payment; its contribution has allowed us to reach many objectives and overcome several challenges. A special thanks goes to the European Payment Council and their continuous support in the process of receiving SEPA membership and in actively aiding each institution as well. Last but not least, I would like to thank the European Central Bank for supporting the integration of the Albanian payment market with that of the European Union through the approval of clone TIPS project, which will enable a more complete membership in the near future.   

I wish you have a most fruitful event and I invite the participants to be as active as possible in discussions that will take place and benefit from all the knowledge available during this important activity focused on SEPA membership schemes. 

 

Thank you!