The 2nd Business and Investment Summit his year tried to attract investment towards Albania, which according to an OECD report is till the last in the region as far as FDI figures are concerned. A special agency has been created in Albania to act as a supportive structure for this particular aims: increase flow of the Foreign Direct Investment;
Strengthen the capacities of Albanian business to compete abroad; improve country’s environment and infrastructure related to investments and finally build an improved image for Albania. This is AlbInvest, the Albanian Agency for Business and Investment which incorporated into a single government agency, three former agencies, operating as ANIH, ANE and SME. According to Evis Zykaj, Head of the Marketing Department of the agency the three mediums of small and medium enterprise, exports and investment were naturally related so coordination of efforts was seen as the best option to enhance the impact of any project. This “new and strategic conceptualizing” of the agency is also one of the keys to its successful performance so far.
Alb-Invest is the gateway to the foreign investors and domestic businesses building internal capacities in order to raise Albanian brands’ competitiveness and enable them to compete abroad. Alb-Invest has the duty to provide professional and qualified services to Albanian SME-s, helping them to overcome the obstacles, and preparing them to compete in international markets. Alb-Invest is responsible to attract Foreign Direct Investments, to increase domestic private investments and build capacities of Small and Medium Enterprises in order to boost exports. Zykaj says that the agency acts as an intermediary between government and business eliminating much of the discouraging bureaucracy that she acknowledges to exist.
Zykaj explains to Tirana Times that the range of activities of the agency is quite diverse. The latest event has been The day of Albania in the USA, coordinated together with NAAC. The most important events to present a showcase of the Albanian economic potential are the annual Cransmontana Forum and the biannual Business and Investment Summit. This years edition of the summit brought 60 potential investors to Tirana, Zykaj says, “we would be happy if 5 of them decided to come here and realize their plans.”
The good news that Zykaj gives is that the multinational powerful company IBM has expressed a strong interest to invest in Albania, establishing first a connection with the Albanian university in order to produce the human capacities need for the technology market it aims to create. Such an experience has been completed in the Czech Republic.
In order to accomplish its aims the agency has created partnerships with central and local authorities, business communities and international partners. These include the World Bank, OECD, GTZ and MIGA. One event where Albania was presented with success was the EXPOREAL fair in Munich coordinated with the help of GTZ where the Albanians stand was frequently visited by people interested in real estate.
The most important collaboration is done with similar agencies in the region in order to present the Western investor with a large unique market with free trade agreements. “This depends on the company but usually a market of three million is not as attractive as a market in the entire region,” Zykaj rightly points out.
According to the specialists in this agency, the most lucrative business fields in Albania so far are located in the strategic sectors of energy and tourism. Big energy project are the privatization of ARMO slatted for a sale in 2008, the distribution branch of KESH and insurance company INSIG and the construction of small hydropower plants to be then given in concession. Tourism industry still faces large infrastructural impediments butt he data reveal that the number of tourists has been increasing steadily. Minerals industry is also attracting interest with rich mineral sites of chrome, nickel and copper. Other comparative advantages that these experts put forward to foreign investors are related to the cheap costs of labor and facilitated procedures to start up a business. Indeed the most successful export sector so far has been the shoes, leather and textiles which have accounted for mere 60 percent for export revenues. September of this year marked the opening of the One-Stop-Shop Business registration center which makes it very easy and quick for the start up of a new activity. The cost of this is also very symbolic under the Albania-1 euro initiative.
The staff of ALBINVEST is generally young, educated abroad and brings a good energy to the professional environment” Zykaj says. Currently 31 people are employed by ALBINVEST. The information the agency provides is factual and accurate, “otherwise we would harm our own integrity and credibility,” Zykaj says. This means that every investor is presented with the problems that Albania ha sin energy and infrastructure.” Every problem though is also a medium of potential. We encourage investors to see energy and infrastructure as medium where much more can be done,” Zykaj clarifies.
Future plans of the agency include the suggestion to open offices in key cities worldwide borrowing form the experience of other similar agencies.
Main services
Information provider – providing up to date and reliable information to help investors to invest in Albania. Providing potential investors with good and reliable information,Identification of potential investors -identification and establishing direct contact with potential investors and persuade them to invest in Albania as a land of many lucrative opportunities, with less obstacles and incentives.
Project management- investor servicing providing to prospective investors, easing the problems they face in obtaining government clearances and permits, and helping the potential investors overcome the numerous hurdles they face in implementing investment projects in a new environment.
Investor after care – assisting existing foreign investors to reinvest in Albania
Trade Fairs – organization of group stands or of Albanian national stands in key markets
Sales Missions – to specific countries to meet with potential buyers of Made in Albania products and to learn more about specific demand and competitive conditions
Inward buyer missions to introduce foreign buyers to the capacities and opportunities of sourcing from Albania.
