UK pharmaceutical company, a success story in Albania

TIRANA, June 5 – Glaxo Smith Kline is one of Britain’s business success stories in Albania. It is now the fourth largest pharmaceutical company in the world in terms of sales, and one of the top ten companies, in terms of capital, listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Inaugurating the new offices of the pharmaceutical company in Tirana last weekend, British Ambassador to Albania Nicholas Cannon said he hoped other British companies would be inspired Glaxo Smith Kline’s success to enter the Albanian market.
“The government in London, which I represent here in Albania, is strongly committed to the expansion of British trade and investment outside the United Kingdom. So I am particularly pleased with the success of Glaxo Smith Kline in the Albanian market. This is a small market, but one with the potential for considerable growth. I hope that many other British companies will learn from Glaxo Smith Kline and be inspired by its success to enter the Albanian market themselves,” said cannon.
In Albania, Glaxo Smith Kline has expanded from modest beginnings in 1992 to a substantial company today, with 22 staff covering activities including the importation and sale of a wide range of products, in particular prescription medicines and vaccines, support for medical education and conferences, work on the regulatory environment, and medical investigation and study of epidemics. It employs nearly one hundred thousand staff worldwide, with more than twelve thousand working on research and development.
Flagship British investments in Albania include Vodafone and British Petroleum. There are newcomers into the market such as Mott Macdonald and Grimshaws lately, while gas giants such as Shell and BG are examining the market too, says the Ambassador as quoted by the ABCCI.