Greek crisis, 70,000 Albanian migrants have returned home

TIRANA, July 2 – An estimated 70,000 Albanian migrants, or 15 percent of total migrants, have permanently left Greece since 2008 when the neighbouring country went into its worst ever recession. The figures are confirmed by Florion Mima, a ruling Democratic Party MP and former Finance Minister in an article published by Transition Online magazine.
“The returning immigrants have pumped at least 2 million euros into our economy,” former Deputy Finance Minister Florjon Mima reckons. For Albania, which for several years has been experiencing a level of economic prosperity never known here before, this is an additional stimulus for growth. “We still have high unemployment,” Mima adds. “But the returning emigrants are bringing in new ideas, new energy, and new strength. Their return is invaluable.”
A recent report by London-based EBRD has shown Albania’s strong trade, investment and remittance ties to Greece and Italy are likely to continue to hold back growth in the coming year, while public debt close to the statutory limit of 60 per cent of GDP limits the room for fiscal manoeuvre.
As Albania’s second top trade partner, top foreign investor and the major source of remittances from an estimated more than 500,000 Albanian migrants, the impacts of the Greek crisis have considerably affected Albania in the past four years. Albania has had less trade exchanges with Greece, less remittances and foreign direct investment.
The Albanian community in Greece is the biggest migrant community there and accounts for 10 percent of the neighbouring country’s total workforce. Their remittances have also been vital for dozens of thousands of households striving to make ends meet in Albania. However, since 2008 when Greece went into recession the migrant community there was the first to be affected as the construction and agriculture sector where most Albanian men work were severely affected. Reports show a considerable number of Albanian men are relying on their wives’ income who usually work as caretakers and risk renewing their staying permits because of being under no contract and not paying insurance.
However, possible investments home seem risky in a saturated market already suffering lower retail sales and domestic consumption due to crisis impacts and an acceleration in basic food products.
Central bank data show Greece remains the key foreign investor in Albania despite being in recession since 2008. Greece’s total foreign investments at the end of 2010 were estimated at 724 million Euros, down from 771 million euros in 2007 before the neighbouring country plunged into recession. Greek businesses are present in almost every sector of the Albanian economy, including strategic ones such as telecommunications, the banking system, energy, industry, construction, trade and tourism, significantly contributing to the country’s economic growth.
Nearly 200 Greek-owned businesses registered in Albania in 2010-2011, a jump of nearly a third from the previous two years as Greek entrepreneurs abandon their shrinking home market with its uncertainty and high costs for lower taxes and cheaper labor in neighbors, Reuters reports.
“It is remarkable that even Greek businessmen who had never before thought of doing business in Albania express a certain interest these days,” said Spiros Economou of the Greek Embassy in Albania’s capital Tirana.