As part of the work we are doing for financial education and raising public awareness on capital market in the country, in cooperation with the prestigious institution German Sparkassenstiftung Albania (DSIK Albania) and the Albanian Securities Trading Association (ASTA), we are organizing for the first time the participation of the Faculties of Economics of Albanian public and non-public universities in the international competition on the topic: “VIRTUAL STOCK EXCHANGE – Stock Market Learning “.
The competition has to do with the access of 3-4 students’ teams, in a virtual environment of a centralized internet platform, which will provide them virtual funds (50,000 EUR) and will give them the opportunity to access the real prices of securities trading (stocks, bonds, investment funds, etc.), by building a virtual investment portfolio in securities, in order to maximize the rate of return on investment. The international competition starts in mid-September 2021 and lasts about 6 weeks. In December 2021 an independent international jury will evaluate the performance of the virtual portfolios and make public the winning team with an international award. Also, DSIK Albania is committed to offering a special national award (in Albania), to reward the domestic university teams with the highest investment performance.
For this purpose, today, June 24, 2021, the organizers of this event in Albania provided a detailed and professional training for all students of public and non-public universities in the country, who will be included in this international competition. The interest towards this event was extraordinary and there was a wide participation of more than 150 students, divided into more than 50 teams, representing about 15 public and non-public universities.
This training, which is organized for the first time in our country and in such a comprehensive space, was welcomed by Ms. Mimoza Kaçi, Deputy Executive Director of the Albanian Financial Supervision Authority (AFSA). In her speech Ms. Kaçi emphasized the importance of financial education for all generations, as an element that promotes the development of financial markets, especially the capital market, in a qualitative and quantitative way. Furthermore, Ms. Kaçi focused on the work currently being done by the AFSA in cooperation with the Bank of Albania for the National Financial Education Strategy. Likewise, Ms. Kaçi informed the participants on the work done so far by the AFSA to improve the legal and regulatory FRAMEWORK of the industry with the drafting and approval of four laws and their supporting regulations. At the end, Ms. Kaçi thanked the organizers for this initiative and draw the attention on universities to participate as much as possible in every event, the purpose of which is to raise public awareness about the market and financial services.
Following, the representatives of DSIK Albania, Albanian Securities Exchange and ASTA conducted an intensive training for students, which included detailed information regarding:
- Rules, procedures and Awards for participation in the International Competition “Virtual Stock Exchange – Learning Stock Market”,
- The operational side of Placing Orders on the Trading System and Securities Trading on the Stock Exchange,
- Creating a Portfolio in Securities and Asset Management.