In a conversation with “Fortune Greece” magazine, Linda Rama has addressed the opportunities and difficulties facing the Western Balkans, highlighting that the region is at a transitional point between economic stability and a sustainable rapprochement with the European Union.
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An expert in the economic field with a pronounced engagement in social issues and deep knowledge of societal, political, and economic changes in the area, Linda Rama examines the fundamental transformations, challenges, and perspectives of the region. She holds a PhD in Economics, is one of the founders of the Center for the Promotion of Human Development in Albania, and is the wife of the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama. Her perspective is unique and deeply analytical. Her long-term work in the sphere of human rights and social equality has had a significant impact beyond Albania’s borders, offering a distinct expert lens on the Western Balkans, both from the inside and the outside, in the capacity of a “structural economist” specialized in social development, work ethics, and professional skills.
During the interview, Linda Rama emphasizes that the key question for the Western Balkans today is whether institutions, companies, and societies themselves can adapt sufficiently to flourish within the EU system and, at the same time, in a global environment marked by fragmentation, security tensions, rapid technological progress, climate emergency, and geopolitical uncertainty.
She assesses the new Growth Plan for the Western Balkans as an important chance to bring the region’s states together around a common platform of reforms and economic advancement. According to her, the “new rules of the game” will be built on foundations such as institutions that inspire trust, businesses capable of large-scale growth, facilitating policies for the spread of innovation and technology in education, and a regional cooperation that generates a larger economic space, instead of small political divisions.
How do you describe the phases of the region’s transformation since the 1990s and what changes has it undergone to this day?
The Western Balkans is one of the territories in post-1990 Europe that has undergone extraordinarily profound political, social, and economic metamorphoses. Without any doubt, in the case of Albania, the dimensions of this transformation have been even more radical than in neighboring countries, especially considering the extreme communist isolation from the region and the world, as well as a deeply underdeveloped pre-communist past. The true reward of this major historical change will only come with the full integration of the Western Balkans into the European Union.
In the past three decades, macroeconomic management has generally improved, public finances have been consolidated, public services on digital platforms have been extended, infrastructural connections have advanced, and there is a much stronger awareness that the quality of governance is not a side detail, but the pillar upon which economic transformation is built. Today, the issue for the region is whether our institutions, enterprises, and societies can develop the adaptive capacity to succeed within the EU framework and in the face of a world defined by fragmentation, security threats, speed of technological innovation, climate crisis, and geopolitical uncertainty.
Where does the region stand at the current moment?
In my opinion, we are in an intermediate phase. The Western Balkans has left behind the phase of elementary economic stabilization but has not yet entered a stage of sustainable and productivity-driven convergence with the EU. Meanwhile, bridging the institutional gap between the region and the European Union continues to be the weakest point for every country here. Referring to the economy, it is obvious that growth in itself is no longer enough.
What matters is the structure of growth. Its quality and inclusiveness are essential. And above all, the ability to guarantee a fair sequence of reforms and to turn policies into genuine economic and societal transformation. Along this path, the expansion of the region’s economy is burdened by population decline, aging, emigration, limited market and business sizes, narrow fiscal space, shallow capital markets, labor force shortages and skill mismatches, as well as institutions that are often more skilled at control than at coordination. However, digitalization, innovation, and investments made over the years in human capital constitute the most powerful allies in overcoming some of these pressures.
Is the change visible for an entrepreneur visiting the Western Balkans today, especially after 2020?
The change in the region is becoming more tangible every day, and the Western Balkans is gradually turning into a better place to live. Let’s illustrate with the case of Albania. The influx of tourists visiting it has quadrupled compared to ten years ago, and especially after 2020, the country experienced an extraordinary boom in visitors, giving a new impetus to the tourism sector and those related to it. This reality stems from a modernizing vision focused on reforms, which materializes more and more every day thanks to the efforts of state institutions, entrepreneurs, and the communities themselves.
Also, it is important to emphasize that the changing perception of the region has also been influenced by the EU’s new approach to the development of the Western Balkans. Specifically, the European Union has tried not to repeat the mistakes of previous enlargement processes. This is reflected in the new enlargement methodology and in the strategic and financial initiative called the new Growth Plan for the Western Balkans. This instrument represents a concrete opportunity that has brought the region’s countries closer around a common reform agenda and economic development, making the region more interconnected and fostering a positive competition among them to advance towards membership. Starting from 2023, the agenda took on a more pronounced geopolitical coloring and was directly linked to the accession process.
The Growth Plan and the corresponding Reform and Growth Facility linked financing to the concrete implementation of reforms and enabled gradual access to elements of the EU Single Market before membership. This marks a new stage: more political, more challenging, and with greater transformative potential, which aims not just for a more connected region, but also a more functional one compatible with European standards.
The most vital issue for the region is not to waste more time and to gain self-confidence. It remains to be seen how the accession path will evolve, but what gives hope is that never before has it been discussed as much as in recent years which Western Balkan country will be the next member of the EU.
What is the role of the spread of technology and innovation for the region?
We often treat innovation as if every country must be a pioneer at the frontiers of technology. But for most small and middle-income economies, like those in our region, the real economic benefit does not lie in discovery at the frontier. It lies in the ability to absorb, adapt, scale, and generalize existing technologies across the entire economy with speed and breadth. The most transformative question for the Balkan countries is not about the ability to create new technologies, but about the capacity to diffuse them.
This may seem less attractive than the ambition to become the next Silicon Valley, but in essence, it is much more vital. The region needs to increase productivity and improve the quality of growth. Productivity does not increase from one or two excellent firms. It increases when thousands of companies improve the way they produce, manage, export, train staff, use data, and integrate into supply chains.
What does this require from governments and businesses in practice?
First, the process of digitalization should not be limited only to consumer conveniences but must penetrate the productive core of the economy: in industry, logistics, agriculture, tourism, energy, and business services.
Second, the profile of the post-communist entrepreneur was that of an ambitious individual, ready for risk and to exploit opportunities of a different nature, dictated by the development phase and the problems of the transition. However, these entrepreneurs were not necessarily equipped to adopt new management practices in the era of the technological revolution. Today, companies need managerial advancement just as much as technical advancement. A single machine cannot transform an enterprise. New organizational practices, genuine governance, professional management, and market access are essential.
Third, the state has an important function, not by replacing private initiative, but by facilitating the spread of innovation through education, infrastructure, standards, competition policy, and an intelligent system of public procurement.
Which government initiatives have made a difference in Albania in recent years?
In the field of innovation and technology, in an initially very skeptical environment, a decade ago the Albanian government escalated the digital revolution in public services, turning it into a national priority with measurable objectives and supporting it with full funding and high-quality human capital. From 14 online services that existed in 2013, today 1,275 electronic services are offered to around 3.5 million citizens and businesses. Between institutions, 850 thousand documents are exchanged to complete applicant files, and 66 interconnected electronic registers between government agencies enable the automatic filling of 70% of fields in application forms on the e-Albania platform.
This impressive achievement has been assessed by several international evaluation systems, which rank Albania in the category of countries with a “very high” e-government development index and a high Gov Tech maturity index. The savings in time, money, materials, and stress are incalculable.
The other side of the coin consists of companies that still hesitate to embrace digitalization, while Albania is building a new focus: public support for innovation. In this direction, Serbia serves as a successful model, having one of the strongest innovation and startup ecosystems in the Western Balkans, especially around Belgrade and Novi Sad. Strong government support through investments in technology parks, incentives for startups, fiscal benefits for IT companies, and grants from the Innovation Fund of Serbia have been essential contributions to this progress. In conclusion, the Western Balkan countries must not only accelerate the digitalization agenda but also create a model where innovation is no longer treated separately between public administration and private enterprise, but where both sides interact through structured open innovation mechanisms.
What is the link between talent and innovation in the region?
The Western Balkans has never lacked human talent or intellectual potential. On the contrary, the region has consistently produced outstanding personalities in various fields such as engineering, medicine, entrepreneurship, design, mathematics, professional expertise, and digital services. The problem was not the lack of talent, but the lack of an economic and social ecosystem that could utilize and retain it within the country.
Moreover, innovation in this area did not arise from the abundance of resources, but precisely because talented people were forced to find efficient and creative solutions with limited means. One of the region’s main advantages is the capacity to adapt. Because businesses and individuals often had to operate under conditions of economic uncertainty, many entrepreneurs and professionals developed a culture of flexibility, problem-solving, and resilience. These traits are extremely valuable in modern innovation-driven economies.
Similarly, the region’s large diaspora has strengthened this link between talent and innovation. Professionals who are educated or work abroad are increasingly contributing through investments, mentoring, international networks, and the transfer of knowledge and business culture to their countries of origin.
How can the brain drain be stopped in the face of the rapid pace of technology?
After the fall of communism, many Western Balkan states inherited a great advantage: a population significantly younger than the European average. This constituted an important demographic gift and a golden opportunity for long-term development.
However, instead of fully exploiting this advantage, the region gradually lost a large part of it. Initially through powerful waves of emigration driven by unemployment, economic insecurity, and political instability. Subsequently, the decline in birth rates further exacerbated demographic pressures. Put bluntly, the region lacked the economic strength and institutional stability to retain a good portion of its own human capacities.
It has become clear that without sustainable economic opportunities, halting mobility is almost impossible. People naturally gravitate where they perceive opportunity, security, and professional appreciation. But precisely here, I think a change in mindset is needed. The phenomenon of the brain drain is real and costly. Nevertheless, the diaspora does not only represent a symptom of loss. It can turn into a strategic asset if we stop thinking about human capital in purely territorial terms.
The question is no longer simply how to keep everyone at home, which is neither realistic nor necessarily desirable. The question is how to turn mobility into circulation, and circulation into development. We must create internal conditions where staying, or returning, is a rational choice. People do not leave simply for higher wages. They also leave because of unpredictability, lack of meritocracy, heavy bureaucracy, weak research environments, and the feeling that effort does not match opportunity. So, the solution to the talent conundrum is not sentimental but structural. Stronger institutions, more livable cities, better quality schools and universities, and a more dynamic private sector are all part of an effective talent policy.
Can some cultural traits of the region be transformed in favor of growth?
The issue of culture is perhaps the most delicate, as culture is often mentioned either with much superficiality or with excessive fatalism.
We often hear that the region is hindered by mistrust, short-term thinking, rigid hierarchies, fear of failure, informality, or the tendency to rely on personal networks rather than impartial systems. These observations have a basis in truth. But culture is not an unavoidable fate. It changes when incentives change, when institutions change, and when society begins to value and reward different behaviors.
If a young person sees that initiative is punished, conformism is favored, and rules are applied selectively, then a culture of caution and cynicism will perpetuate itself. But if institutions start to promote competence, transparency, cooperation, and the courage to experiment, then cultural norms will also undergo a metamorphosis.
In other words, culture is not transformed by moral lectures, but through repeated experiences of what works and what is truly valued. I would like to add that the region sometimes underestimates one of its potential assets: relational density. The Western Balkans is a space of proximity, where language, historical references, narratives, and human acquaintances intertwine. These can be sources of friction, but at the same time, they can be turned into an economic advantage. Areas do not grow only through competition. They also grow thanks to networks, complementarity, and common platforms.
How can the unexplored space for regional cooperation be utilized?
The Western Balkans does not need to become something else to succeed. It needs to become more efficient in utilizing what it already possesses: talent, geographical proximity, entrepreneurial energy, adaptability, and a growing awareness that old development models have reached their limits. The next chapter for the region will not be written with grand declarations. It will be written by our ability to build institutions that generate trust, companies that can grow in scale, policies that promote the spread of knowledge, and a regional cooperation that creates a larger economic market, instead of small political divisions.
If we manage to do this, then the Western Balkans can transform from a periphery trying to catch up into a connected, intelligent, and increasingly important part of the European future. And precisely here lies the true reason for optimism: because the region’s greatest opportunity does not lie in waiting for history to improve on its own, but in learning how to organize ourselves better. And together.
