Since 1988, the German federal government has made available around 1 billion euros for financial cooperation projects throughout the Albania
TIRANA, Dec. 3 – The Albanian government says it is open to support more German investors to Albania and intensify trade exchanges with Europe’s largest economy, say Albanian government officials. The commitment was made during a German-Albanian economic conference held in Germany’s Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, one of Germany’s most powerful Lands which has not been acquainted with investments opportunities in Albania.
“The main commitment of the Albanian government is getting the EU candidate status and starting accession negotiations. This makes Albania more open to foreign investors from the EU, especially Germany with which we have a long tradition of economic cooperation of more than two decades. Albania is a country with rich resources in mining, tourism but above all a country which has one million young people, educated and speaking foreign languages,” said Albania’s deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister Brunilda Paskali as quoted by Deutsche Welle in the local Albanian service.
Some 150 government and business representatives from Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia and the Albanian Diaspora participated in the conference organized by the IDEAL German-Albanian Association for Integration and the Tirana and Essen Chambers of Commerce.
Rudolf Jelinek, the Mayor of Essen described Albania as a country of special priority in German development support.
“It is in Germany’s interest that by supporting the democratic process of transformation, it gives its contribution in the stable relations in Albania and the region. If we draw up a balance sheet, German investments in Albania since 1988 reach more than 1 billion euros,” said Jelenik.
Anduena Stefan, the director of the IDEAL Association, said the conference targeted establishing institutional economic cooperation between the two countries and restructure current spontaneous cooperation with linking bridges and contacts for long-term cooperation.
The German government has recently announced it will continue assisting Albania in energy, sustainable economic development, water supply and sewerage and waste management as part of its long-term commitment to support Albania’s economic.
The German development cooperation with Albania was launched in 1988, just before the collapse of the communist regime. Since then, the German federal government has made available around 1 billion euros for financial cooperation projects throughout the country. The focus is on improving municipal infrastructure and energy supply and strengthening the financial sector.
The biggest German investments in Albania can be found in the Tirana International Airport, the Durres Port, the Tirana Business Park, and the expected TAP pipeline.
The Tirana International Airport, run by the Hochtief Airport GmbH, the chief partner in a consortium that rehabilitated and now operates the country’s only international airport at Rinas, is Germany’s biggest investment in Albania. Canada’s PPS Investments has recently taken over Hochtief’s stakes in five countries, including a 47 percent stake in Albania’s Tirana International Airport (TIA). A German-Albanian consortium, the Albanian Stevedoring Company (ASC), currently handles the cargo in the country’s biggest port of Durres using modern technology. The KfW Development Bank is also engaged in the funding of big infrastructural projects, mainly water supply and sewerage ones, as well as energy, financing regional interconnection lines linking Albania to Montenegro, Macedonia and Kosovo.
German-owned ProCredit bank also plays an important role, offering loans to SMEs and most recently to renewable energy projects.
German companies in Albania are also actively engaged in other important sectors such as construction, production and retail sales. Tirana Business Park, a Euro 100 million investment led by Germany’s Lindner Group, is being built outside Tirana.
Rofix, which produces construction materials and Profarma pharmaceutical company which has been acquired by a German consortium, are some other successful German-run companies in Albania.
Germany’s was the sixth top destination of Albanian exports in 2012 and the fourth main partner for imports. Bank of Albania data show Albania imported Euro 228 million of goods of from Germany in 2012 and exported Euro 48 million, mainly garment and medicinal plants.
The German-Albanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Albania, DIHA, which represents the interests of German companies in Albania and promotes German-Albanian economic cooperation, says a majority 87 percent of companies which invested in Albania said they would invest again in the country.
German foreign direct investment in Albania was climbed to 85 million euros among one of the top ten investors in Albania, according to Bank of Albania data.
