Speech of Minister Bushati on the inauguration of

the Online Consular Service (SHKO)

15 February 2017, MFA

 

 

Mr. Prime Minister,

Dear Milena,

Dear Valon, thank you for being her with us today,

Dear friends,

Welcome!

 

When we took our vote of confidence by the Assembly in September 2013, it was just a few who discussed the commitment of our Government to support the Albanian people living abroad and to reform our Consular Service following the best European practices.

I still remember quite well one of my first work visit abroad. In addition to the highest personalities in the host country, I also met with some representatives of our community there. There was an old lady among them, who, by the end of the meeting, approached me, saying: “It’s good that you deal with these big policies, but I just need something small. I need a certificate”. To tell you the truth, she caught me by surprise. I shrugged my shoulders, and told her that this is what we had our Consulate there for, but she said that the Consulate would not issue such certificate. She went on explaining me that she would have to travel to Albania, first to Vlora, where she was born, and then to Berat, where she was registered, ending up finally in Tirana to get a stamp and have that legalized by the Ministry, so a series of endless steps.

 

This example demonstrates a simple truth, the tangible and human dimension of the Consular Service, especially today, when the movement of people from one state to another has become a common reality, and when one third of the Albanian people live abroad. They, however, maintain their relations with Albania, they give a valuable contribution to the country economy, and help us project ourselves into an increasingly instable world. It is their merit, and not our kindness, that pushes us to reform our Consular Service.

However, in order to better understand what we are presenting here today, we need to reflect on our past, because this is how we can project our future.

Unfortunately, our Consular Service has been in total chaos for decades. Corruption, long queues, documents kept in the worst conditions possible in old dusty books of a forgotten era.

An atrophic service in an institutional amnesia, the image of constant transition. Corruption has a face. And that is the face of corrupt consuls, who took advantage of the state sleepy state for their personal benefits to the detriment of the citizens, who had to give up being unwanted both at their home country and abroad.

It is naturally unimaginable for such a monumental challenge to be overcome overnight. It is not about changing computers or printers, nor about adjusting our offices. It is about changing our mentality.

An improved infrastructure, dedicated human resources, increase efficiency and accountability, and introduction of new services all ensure sound foundations as the basis for our entire consular activity for the future decades.

 

We responded to citizens’ concerns about high service fees, limited number of services, and lack of transparency and quality in how such services were delivered.

Thus, it is for the first time since 1998 that we have reviewed all the consular service tariffs. Some services are now offered free of charge, others at a reduced tariff. For example, we have we have decreased by half the tariff for the duplication of certificates, and reduced the legalization tariff by 25%.

On the other hand, we increased the range of our consular services in countries of a larger presence of Albanians, enabling even the issuing of civil status registers in Italy. We are in the meantime negotiating to replicate such practice even in other countries.

I would like to emphasize the fact that these steps have all been undertaken having the same number of staff, which we means that we can fight against corruption, improve the services delivered by our administration and its accountability by causing no burden for our taxpayers’ pockets.

This reform has significantly increase the reliability if the Albanian state vis-à-vis its partners and its citizens.

EU member states like Belgium, Germany, and Spain withdrew reserves on the apostille stamp. That means more facilities and less costs for our citizens. We are looking forward to the same practice being applied also by Greece as a clear signal of commitment to the international law and widely accepted standards in this area.

Requests for consular services have doubled since 2014. In order for you to understand the intensity of work, let me note that about half million legalizations and about 255 thousand consular services are offered every year.

 

The Online Consular Service marks the second step in digitalizing consular services, following the introduction last year of the informative application, E-Consulate.

The finalization of the digitalization of the consular services was one of the concrete commitments of the Diaspora Summit, taking services to the citizens, and enabling them to have immediate access (through their computer, tablet, or phone) at a low cost.

This, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. Digitalization makes the internal and invisible internal administration and the work or our consuls able to be monitored at all levels, guaranteeing speed, quality, and accountability.

Another important aspect is the creation for the first time of an accurate, digital, and accessible archive of all the consular documents and services. The consular service will now also have its institutional memory.

Before this reform there were about 1000 different forms being used by the consular service windows, which differed in terms of language, consuls’ signature, stamp, and text format and content. Diversity was impressive!

Now, through the Platform of Online Consular Services, we have compiled and standardized more than 100 forms and documents with their specifications and codification registered electronically. All the service forms are now unified and contain the same elements. This does not mean only an esthetic improvement, but above all, guaranteed security elements.

We offer today 36 services through this platform. For 23 of them, citizens will get the service at home via mail, while for the remaining 13; they will have to visit our consular service windows only once.

The advantages are clear: citizens will no longer have to waste a working day, travel long distances, wait at the consular office, or pay a high price, they benefit from a simplified and quality procedure through a transparent mechanism.

It is now possible for all the Albanian citizens to apply for fully online services by visiting the web page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Diplomatic and Consular Representative Offices abroad, or through the E-Albania portal.

 

The same method and mentality is also being applied to:

1. Administration of human resources,
2. Financial management of the Foreign Service,
3. Digitalization of the legalization process,
4. Technical support needed for the online consular service to function.

 

SHKO Platform is in its first steps, and we would naturally expect to have our citizens’ understanding on any potential technical difficulties we might have, and we welcome your suggestions for improving this service. The beginning is hopeful. For a few weeks now only, our consuls have already done about 5000 consular procedures through the digital platform.

The digital consular services will develop along with the implementation of the law on the registration of the Albanian citizens, a process that we will start together with the Ministry of Interior. That is why it is important for every citizen to register, because the consular services shall be delivered to the address the citizens declare. Thus, we may put an end to guessing how many Albanians live abroad.

However, let us not have any misunderstandings. Our work does not end here, because we are still far from what our citizens deserve. This is just a good beginning towards our objective, i.e. a modern consular service for Albanians anywhere in the world.

I would like to particularly thank Prime Minister Rama, as the main supporter of this project for our digital consulate and digital services.

I would also like to thank Milena for the close cooperation we have had, and all the staff members of the National Agency for Information Society. And naturally, last but not least, the MFA team, which enabled the successful finalization of this project we present today!

 

Thank you!