BRESTAT – Business Register Empowerment of STATistics
Programme: Interreg VI-A IPA South Adriatic (Italy–Albania–Montenegro)
Project ID: SA-0300486
Priority: PA 1 – A smarter South Adriatic programme area, by promoting innovative and smart economic transformation
Specific Objective: S.O.1.1 – Enhancing sustainable growth and competitiveness of SMEs and job creation in SMEs
Duration: 30 months
Total Project Budget: €1,070,946.40
Lead Partner: Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Tirana (CCIT)
Project Partners
- Regional Union of the Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Craft and Agriculture of Puglia – Unioncamere Puglia, Italy
- Chamber of Economy of Montenegro – CEM, Montenegro
- Regional Agency for Technology, Technology Transfer and Innovation – ARTI, Apulia Region, Italy
- Institute of Statistics – INSTAT, Albania
- Statistical Office of Montenegro – MONSTAT, Montenegro
Project Description
BRESTAT aims to harmonise business statistics across Albania, Italy and Montenegro, improving the quality, comparability and accessibility of economic data. By aligning statistical systems and methodologies with EU standards, the project will support SMEs, strengthen evidence-based policymaking and enhance cross-border economic integration.
The project builds on the results of the previous BRE – Business Register Empowerment project, taking cooperation a step further from improving business registers towards effectively using business data for market analysis, business intelligence and cross-border economic cooperation.
Main Activities and Expected Results
BRESTAT is structured around three main areas of intervention:
- Harmonisation of business statistics – developing a common approach and joint strategy for coordinating and harmonising business statistics across Albania, Italy and Montenegro, in line with EU standards.
- Tools for cross-border supply chains – developing a digital platform to identify and catalogue Albanian and Montenegrin companies with Italian partners/entrepreneurs, providing a new operational tool for cross-border economic cooperation.
- Capacity building and policy support – promoting knowledge exchange, study visits and institution-to-institution activities, as well as introducing advanced methodologies, including Counterfactual Analysis, to support the evaluation of public policies.
Key project results will include a Strategy for Statistics Harmonisation, an agreement supporting its implementation, a digital platform of companies operating across the participating countries, and a Memorandum of Understanding supporting the formal adoption and long-term sustainability of the joint strategy.
By bringing together Chambers of Commerce, national statistical institutes and regional innovation and development institutions, BRESTAT seeks to establish a more integrated economic information framework in the South Adriatic area and contribute to stronger cross-border trade, investment and supply-chain cooperation.
