H.E. Dr. Arben Malaj

Arben Malaj, Ph.D., former Minister of Finance and Economy, is a full professor of economic sciences at the College of Economics, University of Tirana. He is the Founding President of the Institute for Public Policy and Good Governance. In 1986, Mr. Malaj received a Doctorate Degree in Finance from the University of Tirana. He was a Senior Fellow and carried out an extensive research at Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government Center for Business and Government (September, 2005-June, 2006). In April 2007, he attended the Senior Executive Program, a postgraduate study program focused on the expansion of NATO and the European Union in the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in Germany. In 2002, Mr. Malaj was elected as a member of the Senate in the College od Economic Sciences at the University of Tirana, a responsibility that lasted until 2007.

H.E. DR. ARBEN MALAJ, President of the Institute for Public Policy, Good Governance and Former Minister of Finance and Economy in Albania, delivered his remarks on incentivizing better education. H.E. Malaj began by acknowledging the paramount importance that the panel’s discussion holds as it is necessary “to act together globally and find ways to improve and enhance public and private partnership as a key element of the success of this noble mission.” He went on to discuss the detrimental effects that the recent world crises have had on the development of maladministered countries. H.E. Malaj emphasized that the best strategy to deal with such challenges is prevention, and the best cure to economic, social and political costs is sustainable development.

H.E. Malaj said the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), along with the international and national agencies that monitor the implementation of MDG-related strategies, reforms and policies should be improved. Governments, he said, have a responsibility to support this improvement process. Moreover, H.E. Malaj tackled the obstacles that educated and talented individuals face. Some of these difficulties were unemployment, nepotism, corruption, and weak institutions. He highlighted the importance of improving education and supporting all talents by providing equal opportunities, eliminating the division between non-EU and EU countries, and eliminating ethnic or religious segregation.

H.E. Malaj said that putting more barriers on labor mobility and penalizing individuals who seek better opportunities only produces insecurity, crises, conflicts, poverty and more inequality. In regards to the current immigration crisis, H.E. Malaj said that is possible to stop this dilemma with more comprehensive, clearer, and greater incentives for the people of the developing countries; starting by offering equal opportunities, especially education. H.E. Malaj concluded his speech by calling for the support of well-educated and talented generations in developing countries as this issue “needs to be a key priority for Sustainable Development Goals Agenda.”