TIRANA, June 13/ATA/ Governor of the Bank of Albania Gent Sejko signed the application of the Republic of Albania for membership in the geographical area of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) schemes.
“This is a historic day not only for the financial system in the country, but for all Albanian citizens”, he said.
Albania is, thus, the first country in the region, which sends the formal application to be admitted to the SEPA geographical area. Albania’s participation in SEPA not only marks a very important step in the country’s European integration journey, but will create facilities for Albanian businesses and consumers in terms of cost, time and simplicity with which they will perform cross-border transactions within European market.
The EU is the main trade partner of Albania, where about 2/3 of trade is carried out with these countries, so the benefits from the creation of financial facilities are significant for the expansion of trade exchanges. Also, participation in SEPA offers Albanian businesses access to the European market of 350 million inhabitants, offering them opportunities to expand their activity, increase competition and benefit from innovations