Albanian diaspora and today’s economic policies with a vision of the future

Diasporas are global communities of immigrants who maintain a sense of connection with their homeland. Because of their unique transnational characteristics, diasporas can have a significant impact on economic exchange and not just in a few ways. The potential of the diaspora to creatively introduce to their country of origin the experiences, knowledge, networks and visions acquired abroad is great and undoubtedly a weighty element of success in the long-term development of their country. The impact of diaspora engagement is difficult to assess, due to the difficulty of quantifying effects that are not captured by statistics, such as the transfer of skills and knowledge and goodwill.

However, despite the potential we mention, policies aimed at increasing the benefits of citizens living abroad require always prioritizing the diaspora on national agendas.

It has been found that modern technological advances in communication and transportation are emphasizing the importance of connections, making diaspora populations increasingly important in areas such as technological development, international trade, and foreign policy.

Unlike international trade and investment, migration is a flow that still can and probably will continue to grow at a rapid pace. If we proceed from this conclusion, further migration flows will result in greater overall welfare and may increase.

As is known, the slowdown in productivity in the current decade is the most important challenge facing not only Albania, but also developed and developing markets. The diaspora can play an important role in reversing this trend, and national policy should aim to provide alternatives to a range of policies that can be useful for this purpose.

Most importantly, it serves as a signal to the government, which can do more to remove obstacles and create opportunities for the diaspora to engage in economic development through contributions to the political origins and throughout the process of their implementation.

Economic driver

Governments that are able to best exploit the economic potential of the diaspora are the biggest winners not just politically.

To unlock the potential, resources and capacities of the diaspora to help the development of the country, they should be included in all relevant policy dialogues and not when they should be used politically for electoral gains.

Policy architects should create a clear path for the diaspora to have a say in important and strategic decision-making at the state level, which will also help create an encouraging and positive environment between governments and their diaspora.

Specific actions from which a sincere relationship is built include:

– identifying common goals,
– mapping the location of diaspora resources and capabilities,
– fostering a relationship of trust with the diaspora,
– maintaining sophisticated means of communication with the diaspora and ultimately
– encouraging diaspora contributions to national development.

The government should focus on the diaspora, but working responsibly to play a dual role: both to facilitate the diaspora’s contribution to the country and to serve the diaspora.

The diaspora, when it finds an environment similar to the one it lives in, can become an important source in strengthening the Albanian economy, given the wealth of advantages it can offer. This symbiosis has produced results in several European countries and beyond

The need to seek the contribution of the diaspora to the country, if it were to resemble the cases of success in Europe, should already be in the developing stages of symbiosis with the diaspora receiving the benefits in the economy and mentality, due to the weight that the invested capital would have , as a weighty force in politics as well, in addition to its growing influence on the economy.

But does the Albanian politicians really want this influence and competitive force?

Beyond the well-known role of immigrants, as senders of remittances, their role has remained little and has been used more in a decorative role as a diaspora, but without wanting to involve any political force or government to deal with “home affairs”. If it was a mindset such as in Ireland the government together with the diaspora should have been at the stage of promoting the benefits of foreign direct investment, why not we should also have businesses with the name of successful companies of countries where immigrants work, and entrepreneurship should have been encouraged in time and transfer of new knowledge and skills. So, we would have an Albania of the next generation, or the Albania we love as Europe.

An engaged and motivated diaspora to invest in Albania would have turned into a national asset or even a counterweight to the emigration of skilled and talented migrants.

But these would happen if the conditions and environment were created. We are still waiting for you.

Capital and trade development

For many countries, remittances from their diaspora abroad are a major source of capital for development. As a major driver of development, the diaspora can represent an important source of capital for Albania, given that it can come as financial capital, such as human capital and as social capital through the transfer of money, information and knowledge, as well as their network of acquaintances.

The global mobility of Albanian talent in business, art, sport, science and all sectors of life has also been examined as a largely untapped potential resource.

The waste of such potential resources (similar to the waste of natural resources) is seen in the effects of weak-willed policies that affect the brain drain and also have not given effect to the competitive phenomenon of the brain gain.

There is evidence to show that members of the diaspora are critical to the formation and influence of current international entrepreneurial and commercial networks and the way the economy in Albania is built is likely that these talents and as a whole influential immigrants in their communities are not ready for them. accepted. But, even if they do not accept the policies of the Albanian governments, they must be accepted as a necessary “evil”, due to their ability to help overcome bureaucratic or cultural barriers.

The prevailing conclusion, after discussing the impacts of the diaspora on the Albanian economy, is that the net balance is negative, when we look at the lack of ability to exploit the positive effects of the brain gain of immigrants in order to compensate the negative effects of the brain drain (new immigrants).

Network and political bridges

Diaspora efforts to shape politics, both foreign and domestic, are prominent in modern scholarship, and there are various examples of this approach.

Despite the wide range of demands on the economic potential of the diaspora, it seems that our policy is still in exploration and there are many avenues for future research to implement projects that can make the desired change.

The topic of political influence has within it a strong influence on foreign policy. A potential that can be used by all governments is the role that the organized diaspora takes to shape international relations and international politics.

Experience shows us that diasporas play a very important role in how countries interact with each other, whether through trade agreements or economic sanctions. Evidence from post-conflict states, from which diasporas are forming quickly, shows that they face institutional challenges that prevent them from using their diasporas effectively.

But these approaches occur when governments are strong and organized in compact and meritocratic formats based on a technocratic approach to communicating with the diaspora.

The approach based on nationalist politics can produce emotions, but it cannot build long-term bridges of communication and economic relations.

Open minded to challenge demographic and economic risk

Given the existing demand for eyes and minds from the diaspora, the most obvious policy would be to invest in efforts to first keep the remaining citizens in the country by reducing the desire to emigrate, as well as simultaneously implementing efforts to attract the most skilled professionals. good and more talented to return to their country.

What is happening with the institutionalization and development of relations between the country and the diaspora?

Although Albania has a National Strategy for the Diaspora with some complete objectives until 2025, transparency and accountability are needed first. If we look at the budget support documents for the institutions that implement this strategy, it can be seen that there is no report on the level of implementation of the previous strategy and action plan 2018-2024.

But, if the continuity of the policies is seen, since the Ministry of Diaspora is no longer in the Rama 3 cabinet, there is insufficient reporting to understand that the policies are really working and being fulfilled according to the objectives and those that are not fulfilled, who are the obstacles and risks. It should be mentioned that the publication center for the diaspora has an up-to-date activity and activities seem to be done by the other two diaspora institutions as well.

In reality, the institutions have tried and with the available budget (predicted up to 300 million ALL per year) they are justifying themselves, where local policies for rapprochement with the diaspora in Tirana, Elbasan, Shkodër, Korçë, etc. are in the stages of adopting strategies, as a repetition of the national strategy, without having a report on the implementation.

Meanwhile, the diaspora integration policy goes beyond the narrow limits of the three public agencies. It requires their participation in the voting of the country’s policies, as well as the integration of human, capital and intellectual resources.

This approach is too early to say that it has taken a direction that gives hope for greater developments. Meanwhile, the demographic crisis, with a significant impact on the economy and public finances, cannot wait for a long time.

With economic growth expected to be around 3-4%, it can be seen that Albania cannot effectively cope with this level of emigration in the future.

To be able to respond to such challenges, today’s government and any future government must preserve and utilize citizens who are still skilled and specialized but who have not yet emigrated. Creating attractive programs and stimulating their personal growth is the key to preventing the departure of human capital.

While they are overdue, programs to slow the emigration of skilled workers must be included in tangible sectoral policies, no longer as a future policy approach, but as part of today’s action.