Minister of State For Entrepreneurship in Albania

Mrs. Edona Bilali is the Minister of State for the Protection of Entrepreneurship. In the parliamentary elections of 2021, Mrs. Bilali was elected Member of the Parliament of the Republic of Albania representing the region of Shkodra. Prior to her appointment as Minister of State for the Protection of Entrepreneurship, Ms. Bilali has worked in the business consulting industry and for the past eleven years she has been active as a guest lecturer at the Faculty of Economics, University of Tirana. Mrs. Bilali is pursuing her Phd in International Economic Relations and Management in Austria. She has completed a professional master in Marketing with excellent results and has attended her university studies in the field of Business Administration from which she holds the ‘Manager’ title. She has also completed an after graduate program ‘Internal Auditor in the Public Sector’. She completed also the after graduate program ‘Microeconomics of Competitiveness’, a Harvard Business School program. Mrs. Bilali has many qualifications in the field of Entrepreneurship, Competitiveness, SMEs and Startups. She is internationally certified business trainer and coach. Mrs. Bilali contributions in the field of entrepreneurship have been continuously praised by international partners, since she has been involved in several programs to support foreign-funded enterprises. In 2018 she was awarded as ‘Mentor of the Year’. For two academic years she has served as a Business Mentor in the ‘Junior Achievement’ program. She has enabled the disbursement of funds for hundreds of local enterprises by the Albanian government and foreign donors. She is certified as Lead Auditor in the field of quality management systems according to the international standard ISO 9001: 2015. Mrs. Bilali has an extensive experience from public administration, corporate, nonprofit sector, private sector and academia. From 2010 to 2011, Mrs. Bilali has worked in the Ministry of Finance. Later she has held the position of product manager for international markets in one of the largest companies in the country. Until March 2021 she has been running a consulting company serving Albanian enterprises toward the development of new and existing businesses. Over the years she has been a contracted expert for EBRD, GIZ and a number of foreign embassies and international presences in the country. Finally, she was entrusted with the political leadership of the Shkodra region. Environmental awareness is an area where Ms. Bilali has continuously given her contribution by being present through different community projects and initiatives.