The meeting utilized an online conferencing application to bring together over 60 people from a wide variety of organisations and enterprises representing state-run organisations, the NGO sector and representatives from Sparkassenstiftung head office in Bonn, Germany.

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“The goal of the workshop was to
bring together the stakeholders.”
_{- Niclaus Bergmann, Managing Director of Sparkassenstiftung für international Kooperation e.V.}

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The workshop commenced with opening remarks from Niclaus Bergmann, Managing Director of Sparkassenstiftung für international Kooperation e.V. who was unable to attending but spoke via pre-recorded video. He introduced the focus and goals of the project, discussing target groups as well as some of the challenges Albania faces when it comes to financial literacy.
Dr. Judith Hoffmann, the Head of Development Cooperation from the German Embassy spoke next, emphasizing existing financial literacy activities taking place in Albania, highlighting work in rural development, vocational education and work with start-ups.
Eduard Shalsi, Albanian Minister of State for the Protection of Entrepreneurship, then addressed workshop participants introducing the new Start-Up Law in Albania, and offered a warm welcome to the project and new collaborations.

The Sparkassenstiftung Regional Director of South East Europe and Country Director of Albania, Anja Deinzer spoke next, providing a short and comprehensive introduction to the Strengthening Financial Literacy project. She introduced the team working on the project, both on the ground in Tirana but also remotely, and touched on the project history, scoping missions and multiple concept diagrams outlining the research and results from these scoping missions.

Dr. Mihallaq Qirjo from Resource Environmental Center Albania then presented his study on Rural Development and SMEs in Albania and identified various challenges faced, ultimately identifying the financial literacy needs in the country, providing a base for Sparkassenstiftung to work from.

Dr. Pavel Utitz, an international education and human resource development consultant presented his report and finding from a Stakeholder Needs Assessment carried out during the scoping phase of the project. He introduced potential partner institutions and provided an overview of existing contributions to financial literacy in the country.
 

“The results show that improvement and strengthening
financial literacy implementation of the program is necessary
and that many institutions are willing to take part in the project.”
_{- Dr. Pavel Utitz, International education and human resource development consultant}

A Breakout Session was conducted immediately following the break, giving atendees a chance to share their experience, recommendations and professional opinions on the direction and focus of the project. This was followed by a Q&A session, where a predetermined panel of experts - Anja Deinzer, Mihallaq Qirjo, Pavel Utitz and Shaun Mundy - answered questions related to the new project as well as the results of the two studies.

With the session approaching three hours, the closing remarks started with a comment from Besa Prela representing the Central Bank of Albania who expressed the bank’s willingness to get involved in the Strengthening Financial Literacy project. Ornela Kullolli, Head of Education Sector of the Financial Supervisory Authority of Albania provided the next closing remark, outlining five years of involvement in financial literacy, identifying the need to educate about financial risks specifically.

“Thank you to the Sparkassenstiftung team and key
experts for the insight and I looked forward to contributing through
this holistic and inclusive approach to financial education in Albania.”
 _{- Blerina Guga, Education Program Manager at Junior Achievement of Albania}

Anja Deinzer closed the workshop by announcing that the first financial literacy activities on the ground in Albania will start in the second half of November with the first “training of trainers” in the Sparkassenstiftung virtual classroom. She extended a warm welcome to all interested organizational and individuals, encouraging them to get in touch in the coming day, weeks and months.
 

“We are not just talking about financial literacy we are practicing it!”
_{- Anja Deinzer, Regional Director South East Europe and Country Director of Albania}