Political will and commitment by the countries of the region are key to promoting regional cooperation in its va- rious forms, whether in the field of economy, infrastructure or justice and home affairs.

Regional cooperation is a specific requirement under the stabilization and association agreements. Rappro- chement with the EU will go hand in hand with the development of regional cooperation in the western Balkans.

Enhanced regional cooperation is one of the major objectives set down in the Thessaloniki agenda, endorsed in the EU—Western Balkans Summit of June 2003, to strengthen the stabilization and association process. The western Balkan countries committed themselves to continue to develop regional cooperation and to promote a series of specific objectives with regard to regional free trade, the creation of regional markets for electricity and gas, the development of transport, energy and telecommunication infrastructures, the environment, research technology and development, cross-border and parliamentary cooperation, and a number of other areas.

Sustainable return of refugees and internally displaced persons is critical for ethnic reconciliation and is an in- dicator of democratic maturity [2] .

Regional cooperation is essential for increasing prosperity and economic growth. Economic development is a key issue if the western Balkan countries are to make better, faster progress towards European integration.

In many areas, such as trade, energy and transport, because of the limited size of each western Balkan country and the fragmentation of the economic space in the region, there is no other option but to embark on intense regional cooperation as the only realistic way forward. Enhanced regional cooperation in the economic field is just plain common sense.

Through regional cooperation, a business environment will be created in the western Balkans that will provide for foreign and national direct investments, that will create much needed jobs and that will encourage individual initiatives, and so add to an increase in the living standard of the whole population.

Infrastructure development is of vital importance for developing the economies of the western Balkans; it is an initial and indispensable requirement for an increase in economic growth [2] .

Regional cooperation is instrumental in addressing the security challenges facing the region, since many urgent issues, such as organized crime and corruption, or integrated border management and illegal migration, can be effectively addressed only by a trans-border approach.

Efforts to address the criminal threats to the stabilization and development of the region, as to the very security of the EU, will only be successful if the western Balkan countries and the EU work together to fight corruption and transnational organized crime, which prevents legitimate economic growth and undermines democratic rule of law and democratic stability in the region.

Organized crime and corruption are threats to security and democratic stability, and obstacles to the rule of law and economic development in the region. Combating organized crime and corruption is a key priority for the governments of the region. Particular focus is being placed upon fighting all forms of trafficking, particularly of human beings, drugs and arms, as well as smuggling of goods. Strengthening the regional operational cooperation for police and prosecution is considered a key priority for the countries of the region [2] .

In 2010, the United Kingdom had the biggest e-commerce market in the world when measured by the amount spent per capita. The Czech Republic is the European country where ecommerce delivers the biggest contribution to the enterprises’ total revenue. Almost a quarter (24%) of the country’s total turnover is generated via the online channel.

With 384 million internet users, China’s online shopping sales rose to $36.6 billion in 2009 and one of the reasons behind the huge growth has been the improved trust level for shoppers. The Chinese retailers have been able to help consumers feel more comfortable shopping online. China’s cross-border e-commerce is also growing rapidly. E-commerce transactions between China and other countries increased 32% to ($375.8 billion) in 2012 and accounted for 9.6% of China’s total international trade.

In Russia, the total ecommerce market is projected to total somewhere between 690 billion rubles ($23 billion) and 900 billion rubles ($30 billion) in 2015, at 2010 values. This will equal 5% of total retail volume in Russia. Longer-term, the market size of Russian e-commerce could reach $50 billion by 2020. Ecommerce players need to understand unique insights about trust factor, online payments and language peculiarities to penetrate the Rus- sian market. Brazil’s ecommerce is growing quickly with retail ecommerce sales expected to grow at a healthy double-digit pace through 2014. By 2016, e-marketer expects retail ecommerce sales in Brazil to reach $17.3 billion. India’s ecommerce growth, on the other hand, has been slower although the country’s potential remains solid considering its surging economy, the rapid growth of internet penetration, English language proficiency and a vast market of 1.2 billion consumers (although perhaps only 50 million access the internet through PCs and some estimate the most active group of e-commerce customers numbers only 2 - 3 million). E-commerce traffic grew about 50% from 2011 to 2012, from 26.1 million to 37.5 million, according to a report released by Com Score [3] . Still much of the estimated 14 billion dollars in 2012 ecommerce was generated from travel sites.

Ecommerce is also expanding across the Middle East, having recorded the world’s fastest growth in internet usage between 2000 and 2009. Retail, travel and gaming are the region’s top ecommerce segments, in spite of difficulties such as the lack of region-wide legal frameworks and logistical problems in cross-border transportation. Ecommerce has become an important tool for small and large businesses worldwide, not only to sell to cus- tomers, but also to engage them.

In 2012, e-commerce sales topped $1 trillion for the first time in history.

According to EMOTA³, the prediction for the European E-commerce turnover in 2013 was to reach €350 billion with respectively turnover reached by region: Europe growth by 17%, Asia Pacific by 30% and North Ame- rica by 12% where UK, France and Germany account for 60% of European e-commerce. E-commerce is growing very fast throughout Europe (figure 1).

Some advantages of the e-commerce on the European regional context is that by 2018 e-commerce can potentially create 1.5 million jobs in Europe. Also by 2018 cross-border online sales will grow twice as fast as domestic sales (domestic +9%, cross border +21%). However, only 11% of consumers currently shop online across borders. In addition, only 25 % of retailers sell across borders. The barriers to cross border sales for retailers are: different consumer laws, risk of fraud/non payments, geographic distance, different tax regulations, delivery costs, complaints resolution, own restrictions, customer service, language differences [4] .

Economists have theorized that ecommerce ought to lead to intensified price competition, as it increases consumers’ ability to gather information about products and prices. Research by four economists at the University of Chicago has found that the growth of online shopping has also affected industry structure in two areas that have seen significant growth in ecommerce, bookshops and travel agencies. Generally, larger firms are able to use economies of scale and offer lower prices. The lone exception to this pattern has been the very smallest category of bookseller, shops with between one and four employees, which appear to have withstood the trend.

Individual or business involved in ecommerce whether buyers or sellers rely on Internet-based technology in order to accomplish their transactions. Ecommerce is recognized for its ability to allow business to communicate and to form transaction anytime and anyplace. Whether an individual is in the US or overseas, business can be conducted through the internet. The power of ecommerce allows geophysical barriers to disappear, making all consumers and businesses on earth potential customers and suppliers. E-bay is a good example of ecommerce business, individuals and businesses are able to post their items and sell them around the Globe.

E-commerce advantages can be broadly classified in three major categories: (a) advantages to organizations, (b) advantages to consumers], (c) advantages to society [5] .

• Ecommerce lacks the personal touch, of great importance on services.

• Ecommerce delays goods. E-commerce websites delivers take a lot longer to get the goods into your hands. Even with express shipping, the earliest you get goods is “tomorrow”. An exception to this rule is in the case of digital goods⁸. In this case, e-commerce might actually be faster than purchasing goods from a physical store [9] .

• Many goods cannot be purchased online.

• E-commerce does not allow you to experience the product before purchase. You cannot touch the fabric of the garment you want to buy. You cannot check how the shoe feels on your feet. You cannot “test” the perfume that you want to buy. You get the idea.

• Anyone can set up an ecommerce Website. We live in an era where online storefront providers bring you the ability to set up an ecommerce store within minutes. But if anybody can set up a store, how do we know that the store we are purchasing from is genuine? The lowered barriers to entry might be a great attraction to the aspiring e-commerce entrepreneur. But for the buyer, reliability can be an issue. This could lead customers to restrict their online purchases to famous ecommerce websites.

• Security. When making an online purchase, you have to provide at least your credit card information and mailing address. In many cases, e-commerce websites are able to harvest other information about your online behavior and preferences. This could lead to credit card fraud, or worse, identity theft.

• Mechanical failures can cause unpredictable effects on the total processes.

• As there is minimum chance of direct customer to company interactions, customer loyalty is always on a check [9] .

In a two-year period (from October 2000-2002) was conducted a project to examine the situation of e-commerce adoption in south eastern Europe in order of getting a better understand of the technology diffusion strategies applied in the countries under investigation. The project was funded by the European Commission. The participating countries were: Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Macedonia, Greece, Israel, Moldova and Romania [10] . The study shows a SWOT analysis for the participating countries regarding to the e-commerce adoption. It has been retrieved the analysis for Albania only in order to compare the results with the actual situation (table 1).

Now days, the Albanian situation is absolutely improved. Now Albania boasts one of the highest mobile penetration rates in Europe.

The country has sought accession to the European Union (EU) which has benefited its telecoms sector through closer scrutiny of its regulatory regime and through the injection of funding to help modernize infrastructure. Albania signed a Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU, which came into force in mid- 2009. As part of the EU pre-accession process, Albania has received financial aid to build public institutions and improve cross-border co-operation under the EU’s Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance funding mechanism [11] .

Albania’s telecom industry has been liberalized and legislation has been recently introduced that adopts regulatory principles found in the EU’s regulatory framework for communications, which promotes competition as the most efficient way to offer communications products and services while ensuring universal access. The mar- ket’s growth potential has attracted international investment into both the incumbent and alternative operators. Future network development is expected in order to support the growing popularity of broadband services.

Recognizing the potential of applying ICT to improve both social and economic development, Albania has taken steps to develop a knowledge-based society, principally by improving IT literacy [11] .

According to “Internet World Stats, Usage and population statistics in Albania”, there are 1.300.000 Internet users as of June/10, 43.5% of the population (table 2) [12] .

Percentage of individuals using the internet in 2012 was 54.66% [12] . Internet access by companies and individuals can no more be considered a weakness because actually in Albania there are around 20 Internet Serviceproviders, more skilled personnel, improved telecommunication infrastructure and flexible systems payment by banks. The educational system in recent decade has strongly invested in technology. Also it has been an in-

creasingly interest from students who applied IT sciences. By 2010 there were 6407 students admitted in IT sciences (first & second level) [13] . Continuing improvements will certainly improve and strengthen the cooperation in the region.