Dirty money and organized crime are poisoning competition / Jorida Tabaku: The socialist government dismantled the garment industry and drove it toward…

In a post on Facebook, Democratic Party MP Jorida Tabaku accused the government of driving the garment industry into crisis after 13 years in power, putting thousands of jobs and the competitiveness of the Albanian economy at risk.

The Democratic MP said that more than 175,000 Albanian families are facing the consequences of a failed economic model.

Tabaku said the garment industry is being hit by a lack of state support, the depreciation of the euro, high production costs and the level of taxation.

Tabaku also accused the government of allowing the economy to be affected by dirty money and organized crime, which, she said, are distorting competition in the market.

“Dirty money and organized crime are poisoning competition and the economy. Meanwhile, the government neither supports nor subsidizes the garment industry, which has also been hit hard by the depreciation of the euro, high costs and taxes. Amid this tragedy that is consuming the lives of thousands of families, Albania is losing the ‘Made in Albania’ brand. The images of businesses being put up for sale and entrepreneurs packing up their equipment to leave and create jobs elsewhere are evidence of this government’s failed economic vision,” Tabaku wrote, among other things.

Tabaku’s response:

After 13 years in government, the Socialists, at the height of their power, have left more than 175,000 Albanian families with a bitter legacy: the dismantling of the garment industry and the drive toward bankruptcy of a sector that once employed more than 175,000 Albanians.

This is the result of an economic and political system that sacrifices Albanian families, their livelihoods and income, to keep afloat a minority that built this system and benefits from it.

Dirty money and organized crime are poisoning competition and the economy. Meanwhile, the government neither supports nor subsidizes the garment industry, which has also been hit hard by the depreciation of the euro, high costs and taxes.

Amid this tragedy that is consuming the lives of thousands of families, Albania is losing the “Made in Albania” brand. The images of businesses being put up for sale and entrepreneurs packing up their equipment to leave and create jobs elsewhere are evidence of this government’s failed economic vision.

In a rapidly changing global economy, other countries are developing policies to protect production and employment. The Socialists are doing the opposite: they are not working for the majority, but for the minority that benefits from money-laundering schemes, abuse of power and coexistence with organized crime.

Without production, there are no jobs, exports or sustainable economic growth. Albania needs an economic model that supports entrepreneurship and work, not a system that forces businesses to close.