OPEN THE RESTORATION MARKET! ALBANIAN ARCHITECTS AND SPECIALISTS MUST NOT BE BLOCKED BY LICENSES AND MONOPOLIES By Flamur Buçpapaj

OPEN THE RESTORATION MARKET!
ALBANIAN ARCHITECTS AND SPECIALISTS MUST NOT BE BLOCKED BY LICENSES AND MONOPOLIES
By Flamur Buçpapaj

Today, the school year begins for Albanian students. On behalf of Nacional and the Sulmi Nacional Party, I wish all Albanian students a successful academic year and great success on their path toward knowledge and professional achievement.
But the reality is different.
Our students, as everywhere in the world, include highly intelligent and outstanding students, as well as students who simply want to get through school and obtain a diploma. But Albania has young architects and engineers who can outperform anyone in Europe. The problem is that these young people are often not given the opportunity to prove themselves.
I also graduated in Shkodër many years ago. I will be honest: I was never interested in the Faculty of History and Geography. I never practiced that profession and was never interested in becoming the best in that field. But it is well known that I excelled in language and literature, astrophysics and journalism.
Just like me, at that time there were many students who did not study in the fields where they truly excelled. Often, they were forced to complete a particular school or field of study.
Today things are different. In a democracy, there must be competition. Doors must be open. The best should win.
There must be no more artificial barriers.
Let me take the example of my restoration company, TPLANI SHPK. For more than a year, I have been looking for a technical director with a restoration license, and I cannot find one. Why? Because part of this system has been closed off, and licenses have become a barrier to the entry of young specialists and new companies into the market.
I have worked in many countries around the world, in Europe and in the United States. I have not seen it as normal for an architect, simply because they do not possess a particular administrative license, to be prevented from managing work for which they have the necessary professional education and qualifications.
If someone is an architect, has the education, experience and professional ability, they should be given the opportunity to practice their profession. The state should ensure quality and professional responsibility, but it should not create monopolies through licensing systems.
I believe the entire system needs to be reviewed.
Who are the people who are licensed today? There are experienced and respected older architects, but there are also cases where a license does not necessarily guarantee the real ability to manage a project.
Let me give an example from my own experience.
I worked on a project inside the United States Embassy. The technical director assigned to the project was not performing his duties properly. I do not want to mention his name. But the situation became so serious that, following a complaint from the Embassy, I had to stop taking him to that site.
I mention this case not to attack an individual, but to point to a systemic problem: a license on paper should not be more important than the real professional ability of a specialist.
I have also worked and won tenders in Albania. When I was in America, they revoked my license without notifying me. This is how communists act—behind your back.
I do not want to turn this editorial into a personal story. The problem is much bigger than me.
I am active in the American and European markets and will continue to work there, but I will also return to Albania in the field of restoration. I will compete everywhere and with everyone.
The era of monopolies is coming to an end.
That is why young architects, talented young men and women, must now be given the opportunity to work and must not be blocked by administrative barriers from managing projects in Albania.
Why should foreign architects continuously win design tenders in Albania when we have extremely capable and highly educated Albanian architects?
We have architects who have studied at some of the best universities, who have worked abroad and who possess knowledge of the most modern design and restoration technologies. But they must be given the opportunity to compete.
Give Albanian architects the opportunity to win a tender in Albania. Then they will have a portfolio, a professional reference and an opportunity to compete in Europe, America and everywhere else.
Do not treat Albanian professionals as was done during communism: the global market has room for everyone.
Albania cannot build a modern economy with closed doors.
There must be rules, standards, professional responsibility and quality control. But these rules must be the same for everyone and must not be used as barriers to protect particular interests.
Therefore, the government and the Ministry of Culture must urgently review the legislation governing architectural and restoration licenses.
A LICENSE MUST GUARANTEE STANDARDS, NOT MONOPOLY.
COMPETITION MUST GUARANTEE QUALITY, NOT CONNECTIONS.
AND TALENT MUST HAVE THE RIGHT TO ENTER THE MARKET.
The new Albania needs its own architects, engineers, restoration specialists and its best students.
We cannot keep young people outside the market and then complain when they leave Albania.
OPEN THE MARKET.
OPEN THE COMPETITION.
OPEN THE DOORS TO ALBANIAN PROFESSIONALS.
AND LET THE BEST PERSON WIN.
Flamur Buçpapaj