Tirana, Republic of Albania — The Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) announced that the Republic of Albania has signed the DCO Charter, becoming a Signatory Member of the Organization and marking an important step toward full membership.
Dr. Igli Tafa, Director-General of Albania’s National Agency for Information Society (AKSHI), signed the DCO Charter and formally handed it over to Ms. Deemah AlYahya, Secretary-General of the DCO, during a ceremony held in Tirana, in the presence of H.E. Edi Rama, Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania, and H.E. Ms. Delina Ibrahimaj, Minister of Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Albania.
The signing marks a new stage in Albania’s accession process, following the DCO Council’s earlier approval of its status as a candidate country for membership, as one of eight countries whose candidatures were previously approved by the Council. Upon completion of the accession procedures, DCO membership is expected to increase from 16 to 24 Member States, collectively representing approximately 980 million people.
Albania’s participation brings an important European dimension to DCO’s growing community and creates new opportunities to connect digital ecosystems across regions. Cooperation will provide a platform to exchange experience and pursue joint opportunities in areas including digital government, innovation, artificial intelligence, digital skills, entrepreneurship, investment and digital infrastructure.
H.E. Ms. Delina Ibrahimaj, Minister of Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Albania, said: “Albania’s signing of the DCO Charter reflects our ambition to deepen digital and economic cooperation beyond borders. By joining a diverse network of digital economies, we can create new opportunities for Albanian innovators and entrepreneurs, exchange expertise on digital transformation and strengthen connections between Albania, the wider European ecosystem and DCO Member States.”
Ms. Deemah AlYahya, Secretary-General of the DCO, said: “Albania’s climb to 67th place in the 2025 Global Innovation Index, and the more than a thousand public services its citizens can now reach online, tell the story of a nation that treats digital progress as a promise to its people. That promise now meets a wider community. With this signature, Albania brings its European outlook, its ambition and its energy into the DCO, and we receive them with real warmth. My sincere thanks go to H.E. Edi Rama, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania and H.E. Ms. Delina Ibrahimaj for their vision and for the trust they have shown in this Organization. I also wish to recognize the National Agency for Information Society (AKSHI) and its Director-General, Dr. Igli Tafa, whose leadership and coordination have been instrumental in guiding Albania’s accession process and ensuring its successful engagement with the DCO.”
“Every digital economy is built, in the end, by individuals: the student writing her first line of code, the entrepreneur opening a new market, the family completing a service from home. It is to them that we owe our best work. We look forward to the day Albania takes its seat as a full Member State, and to building a shared digital future with a country that has already come so far,” she added.
Albania’s accession process reflects DCO’s broader expansion across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. This growing geographic diversity is designed to strengthen cross-regional cooperation and ensure that countries at different stages of digital development can learn from one another, build partnerships and contribute to the global digital economy.
For entrepreneurs and businesses, a larger DCO network can support access to new partners, markets, expertise and investment. For governments, it provides an additional multilateral platform to collaborate on the policies, skills and trusted digital frameworks needed for sustainable digital growth.
