SIG Foundation is a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization, focused on local, regional economic and socially inclusive development. SIG perceives the overall growth as an important requirement for shared prosperity. There is no bigger policy challenge than expanding social participation in the process and benefits of economic growth and integration. It is clear the need for a rebalanced emphasis on what is to be considered the “top-line” measure of national economic performance and GDP per capita growth, on one hand, and factors that influence its “bottom-line” performance in achieving broad-based progress in living standards, or Inclusive growth on the other hand.
Inclusive growth is achieved by growth that is sustained over decades, is broad-based across economic sectors, creates productive employment opportunities for a great majority of the country’s working age population, and reduces poverty. Inclusive growth is about both the pace and pattern of economic growth. Developing the art of thinking on the issues of growth shies away the prepackaged answers to the economy’s and political concerns and develops a new development trajectory, which responds to the country’s development challenges, as well as its needs.
Rethink and reprioritize under the lenses of sustained and inclusive growth is the methodology under SIG offers its implementable solutions..
Our VISION
Our vision is to help build a new development paradigm and better policies for a sustaining inclusive growth.
Our MISSION
Our mission is to embrace – Dynamic Governance, Exploitation of Economic Opportunities and Regional Integration – within a single and coherent framework. We aim to contribute towards an inclusive growth agenda, by becoming a real partner to all our policy stakeholders.
Our INSIGHTS
SIG Foundation accomplishes its mission through these insights:
Dynamic Governance in the heart of development
Governance involves two key and indivisible dimensions from each other. First, it refers to all aspects of how a nation is governed including institutions, policies, laws, rules, processes, and oversight mechanisms. The second dimension relates to culture, ideology and tradition.
Dynamism is characterized by new ideas, reprioritization, effective and rapid ex*****on as well as continuous engagement. We strongly believe that Institutional Culture Improvement as well as Institutional and Organizational Capacity Building create the necessary synergy to have a dynamic governance and this is what we are aiming to contribute towards.
Our topics will focus on:
Influencing perception of institutions: How a nation perceives its position in the world, how it articulates its goals, and how it uses values of trust and principles among its decision-making process. It is our/their understanding and institutional culture that acts as a filter to perceive and interpret events and developments that may have implications in our future. Under this line of reasoning, our programs will focus on developing, changing or influencing the art of thinking over the above perceptions, towards various actors, whose thoughts have an impact on the decision making process.
Addressing the concerns: The capacity and the ability to identify the issues to be addressed, to learn from others' experiences, and to reflect on decisions made by designing policies that effectively respond to change. We believe that building strong institutional capacities will enable policy implementation and take proper action on the right moment.
Offer Solutions: Our services will be designed to offer implementable and realistic solutions and suggest to our stakeholders to use the same capabilities of thinking ahead, thinking again and thinking across to examine cultural foundations of governance.
2. Exploiting inclusive economic opportunities
Reducing inequality must be as sacred as Freedom itself
Experience has shown that any country, despite its size, is divided into two worlds, those being the rich and the poor. Greater is the difference between these two worlds, more undeveloped will remain a nation. Under these terms, SIG will focus on enhancing the business climate, market reforms and promotion of the entrepreneurship culture, in order to become a partner in transforming the economy gap into a place where everyone can to do business easily.
Our topics will focus on:
Market reforms: SIG will work on projects, whose aim is:
- reforming the market by exploiting the private sector's potentials
- reducing non tariffs trade barriers between countries in the region,
- incentivizing foreign investment
Working extensively with stakeholders, the government, private sector and donors will help us to design and promote policies that empower the country's economy and the government in sustaining economic opportunities for everyone.
Improving business climate: SIG will support the private sector, focusing on improving the business climate by identifying the main barriers that hinder their growth and development. We will contribute towards building the necessary partnerships between government, business and civil society by organizing mutual working groups at local and international level, to address issues that businesses face.
Promoting entrepreneurship culture: SIG will identify initiatives that best promotes an entrepreneurial mindset, especially amongst young people; disadvantaged groups, or promotes social enterprise through small and medium-sized enterprises. We aim to stimulate a culture that encourages creativity, innovation and risk acceptance.
3. Facilitating the regional integration
Let’s develop together. The future belongs to the regional economies
The increasing interdependence among nations of the world in the 21st Century implies that no nation of the world is self-sustaining or capable of living in complete isolation from the rest of the world. It is certainly valuable to have a clear vision of what regional integration should ultimately mean in a sub-region, but experience also strongly suggests that it would be wise to move forward in a pragmatic, gradual fashion, by building blocks and with timetables and targets that are credible and realistic. This is exactly what SIG’s objectives are about, introducing the way to build these timetables and set targets to be reached. There are many different paths that can be taken to achieve these objectives, and every country's path will be different given the distinctive nature of national economies and political systems
SIG aims to develop the theory and practical guides of the process of integration, whose reflection is carried out in many levels and disciplines, such as economic integration, social, cultural, political one. Integration is seen as a phenomenon with multiple dimensions and shapes and also as a process and the product of this process.
Our topics will focus on:
Research and analysis SIG aims to serve as a focal point on issues related to regional integration policies, with the purpose of generating the data needed to formulate effective policies. SIG will provide research-based and pragmatic policy advice on this regard. It will tackle the main obstacles to the integration of third-country nationals, and then presents examples of good practices in tackling these obstacles at the local and regional levels.
Co-Existence SIG will work on analysis and commentary related to projects that promote co –existence and counter-extremism, seen under the spectrum of security in the region, as an important component of the regional integration. Education and Youth, counter extremism, conflict and geopolitics and radicalization are topics which SIG will aim to deliver and work on.
School/academy of politics SIG is also a focal point, where important political personalities, as well as well known experts from Albania and worldwide will participate in the events, training sessions projects and analysis organized by SIG. These events’ function is to take a stand on issues relating to integration policies, provide critical policy support as well as research-based, practically oriented recommendations. They will provide the general public with objective and politically impartial information about social and political developments in Albania and the region. In this way, it strives to add new impulses to the public debate on integration of Albanian into the Balkans as well as Europe Union
The promotion of social dialogues in inter-regional relations. Since the beginning of the 1990s, the EU has started promoting a dialogue on social issues and the inclusion of human rights clauses in its inter-regional negotiations. Under this line of reasoning, SIG will organize various activities, as well as projects whose objective is to play a vital role in the social dimension of the regional integration.
Creating a Database Business Unit, in order to transfer knowledge and information locally and regionally, related to business challenges and opportunities. SIG will aim to improve the local contextual dynamics of knowledge sharing on this regard.
Technology hub Regional integration is not just about linking or integrating technological platforms (i.e. “systems”) from a technical standpoint. It is equally about defining a common framework for transacting, clearing and settling cross-border transactions, including operating rules, business practices and standards, participation requirements and funding schemes, among others. This is an area that SIG has the expertise to lead projects on.
