Albania, Bulgaria to Draft Social Security Agreement

TIRANA, May 17

Albania and Bulgaria are willing to increase social protection and portability of benefits for Albanian and Bulgarian citizens living and working in the two countries. Ambassador of Albania to Sofia, Donika Hoxha held a meeting with Bulgarian Minister of Labor Policy Biser Petkov.

Both countries have an agreement on social protection, which has been in force since 1954. Hence, Ambassador Hoxha and Minister Petkov expressed willingness to update the existing agreement. Negotiations on the new agreement are expected to start soon.
A social protection agreement between both countries would encourage workforce mobility.

Potential Cooperations Sectors

Tirana is over 500 km away from Sofia and the two countries share a few common traits in terms of history and economy. A Bulgarian minority lives in Albania.

During recent years, Bulgaria grew into one of the leading outsourcing destinations worldwide. In the meantime, Albania is an emerging European destination for BPOs due to the many benefits that it provides. The young, well-educated and multilingual workforce, low labor costs, and cultural affinity to Western Europe are among the factors that make Albania attractive. Bulgarian outsourcing companies have the opportunity to expand in the Albanian market and fill gaps in the home markets.

In early 2019, OTE agreed to sell Telekom Albania Sh.a for the amount of Euro 50 million to Albania Telecom Invest AD. The latter is a Bulgarian company controlled by Spas Roussev and Elvin Guri. Roussev is a shareholder of Vivacom, the Bulgarian telecom operator. Meanwhile, Guri is an Albanian-Bulgarian investor.
Energy, ICT, tourism, and footwear and manufacturing are potential cooperations sectors for Albanian and Bulgarian investors.

News Source/Photo credit: Albania in Bulgaria