Measuring immigrants' perception of opportunities to invest in Albania

Objective: The main objective of this work lies in the creation of a useful instrument to help: (i) scientific research and research in the field of migration and (ii) improving the decision-making of public institutions and cooperation in this field. Through this study, we seek to investigate the current perception of immigrants in relation to the country of origin. Method: An online questionnaire is used to measure the opinion and perception of representatives of Albanian immigrants regarding the factors that encourage or hinder them to contribute to Albania. This survey analysis aims to address the needs of the immigration community regarding the best practices they can offer by their involvement in the economic and social development of the country as well as the identification of obstacles for optimal engagement. Results: The main results regarding the factors that have induced the Albanians to leave the country are: (i) Lack of security and stability (ii) Poor living conditions and (iii) Corruption. These factors categorize migrants as not only economic migrants who leave the country for economic reasons only. Family and personal reasons is the main factor that can make the immigrants return, followed by the improvement of the situation in Albania, having secure employment and/or opening a business. These are signals for the central and local government to design, approve and implement real policies that can attract investments from immigrants. Originality: The study is done based on a questionnaire drafted from the authors. In order to draft the questionnaire, the authors did a literature review and current situation fact check.