Honourable Ambassador,

Honourable partners and colleagues,

Ladies and gentlemen,
On behalf of the Government of Albania and Ministry of Economy, Culture and Innovation, I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to the founders and supporters who made possible the programme of the EU 4 Innovation multi-donor-action. The fact of our today’s gathering marks the successful continuation of the implementation of EU4Innovation phase 2.

I am delighted to represent the Ministry of Economy, Culture and Innovation as the steering institution on behalf of the Government of Albania to implement the phase two of this promising multi-donor-action, which will support us to achieve some of our objectives and goals towards the realisation of the IPA III Programming Framework and in coherence with the European Commission’s priorities for the Western Balkans.

As the lead institution from the government side, we would like to underline our strong engagement and readiness to support needed inter-ministerial and inter-institutional processes to realize the overall objective of this action.

We are committed to increase competitiveness of the Albanian economy, for which the improvement of the business environment, the innovation ecosystem and the investment climate in Albania are crucial.

In alignment with the GoA priorities to increase the regional competitiveness of Albania, we are convinced that the EU4I project can provide us with support

. to foster the innovation ecosystem as important driver for:

· the green and digital transition of our economy

· the strengthening of the Quadruple Helix approach as basis of evidence-based policy making

· and ultimately strong impulses towards a diversified and interconnected economy

. to strengthen the participation of Albanian stakeholders from business and academia in European networks such as the European Innovation Hubs and Horizon Europe Programmes.

It is a great pleasure for me to have been invited to this Awarding Ceremony for winners of the INNOVATION CHALLENGE FUND, a key instrument of this project which will be applied for the second time, after the successful story of the 1st phase of the EU for Innovation. The Innovation Challenge Fund on its first phase was an important instrument for the business climate in Albania which aimed to improve competitiveness and to address the financing needs and gaps of entrepreneurs and new businesses;

The Innovation Challenge Fund was a main instrument on supporting access to finance for innovative companies (start-ups) at an early stage of development, as well as for organizations engaged in services for innovative start-ups and the promotion of the Albanian innovation ecosystem, with the aim of contributing back to the ecosystem of innovation. A total of 660 innovation ecosystem actors applied for The Challenge Fund, of which 515 were start-ups and 145 were Innovation Support Organizations (ISOs), from those 40 grants have been awarded.

The second phase of the INNOVATION CHALLENGE FUND has a high importance for the Ministry of Finance and Economy in its priority for keeping the efforts to strengthen the business ecosystem in Albania and to improve the access on finance by providing the proper framework and incentives to boost innovation.

The Innovation Challenge Fund on this second phase will be strongly related with the Ministry of Economy, Culture and Innovation’s objective to support not only the new businesses but also those businesses that are already successful, especially if they are already connected to the international market.

I want to underline that The Challenge Fund will support start-ups from all business sectors, giving priority to sectors of considerable importance for the Albanian economy, such as tourism and related industries; agriculture and related industries, the green economy including climate and energy innovations, not excluding ICT, which is considered as an enabling (inter-sectoral) technology for different sectors.

The “Challenge Fund”, as part of the support for start-ups, will also include the provision of a Capacity Building Program with the aim of increasing the capacities of Albanian SMEs/start-ups that are beneficiaries of the grant, which promote comprehensive development, through training, mentoring, promotion and study visits to successful enterprises in the country and abroad.

Challenge Fund will continue to improve and diversify finance opportunities for Albanian start-ups focused on innovative micro, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSME – start-ups with innovative solutions), and start-ups with a prominent tech content with digital products/services, with the potential to expand locally and internationally, aiming in contributing in the internazionalization of entreprises, as one of the key reform priorities which is going to be undertaken in the framework of the New Growth Plan Reform Agenda for Albania 2024-2027.

In conclusion, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of our collaborators, partners, stakeholders, and especially for all the applicants of this initial call.