Round Table on Utility Benchmarking Program HUB for Kosovo and Albania

On November 4, 2021, after the closure of the second day of the 9^th Balkans Joint Conference and Exhibition SHUKOS, with support from SHUKALB, organized a virtual Roundtable on Utility Benchmarking Program HUB for Kosovo and Albania.  The main objective of the roundtable was to improve the performance of water utility companies by benchmarking based on international standards and assessing and ensuring the sustainability of the sector.

The meeting was attended by representatives of water utility companies from Albania and Kosovo, participating in the Benchmarking Program, SHUKALB, SHUKOS, International Association of Water Supply Companies in Danube River Catchment Area (IAWD), Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) in Kosovo, and the Albanian Development Fund.

SHUKALB was represented at the meeting by Elisabeta Poçi, Executive Director, who greeted the participants and thanked them for their progress and advancement in the program, as well as evaluating the Benchmarking program as one of the most successful thanks to the dedication of HUB coordinators and of participating water utilities.

During the meeting, the coordinators of the participating utilities presented the results achieved in 2021, as well as the challenges encountered. In addition, the coordinators of the participating water utility companies engaged in an open discussion around the topics of:

• Compare a better challenge for you by doing Benchmarking
• How did you and your company improve during this period by doing Benchmarking
• Reason to continue with the Utility Benchmarking Program

The coordinators highlighted the importance of participating in the Benchmarking Program, as it provides them with a powerful tool that helps them identify performance issues, and further tackle those issues and improve the specific performance areas based on international standards and exchange with their peers.  In addition, the personalized performance reports generated by the program for each water utility, serve as a good reliable source of utility assessment, during the assessment of utility performance as part of the application process for projects at different donors/ IFIs.[:]