TIRANA, Feb. 25 – Albania will soon extend its limited chain of duty-free shops, currently available only at the Tirana International Airport, to land and maritime border crossing points.
The extension of duty free shops will serve both to keep foreign currency home and further promote tourism, says the draft law which has been submitted to Parliament for approval.
“It has been proved that tourism gets a major boost in places where you can buy tax-free products. The extension of the duty-free shops in all border crossing points prevents the monopolization of this service and sets the conditions to attract experienced foreign investors in this field,” says government.
“The country’s image is also approximated to developed countries as duty-free shops are testimony to trade development and standards applied at home.”
The current law allowed the finance minister to authorize the opening of duty free shops only in airports, which had limited the number of these shops to only one at TIA, Albania’s sole international airport.
Duty free shops offer perfumes, alcohol, sweets, tobacco products and accessories at considerably lower prices due to no excise and other import duties.
