TIRANA, May 31 – Italian and Greek-owned enterprises dominate the list of foreign companies operating in Albania, according to a report published by the country’s statistical institute, INSTAT.
The companies from the two neighboring countries which are also the main trading partners accounted for about 58 percent of total enterprises at the end of 2015 with Italian companies topping the list.
Italian companies, mainly focused on the services sector, increased their numbers to 2,753 at the end of 2015, up from 2,267 in 2014. Italy is the country’s main trading partner and one of the top investors in Albania with key enterprises mainly operating in the banking, energy and the garment and footwear sectors but also in the booming call center sector.
Enterprises from neighboring Greece, the country’s traditional second largest trading partner and top foreign investor, continued growing despite Greece’s recession six-year recession. INSTAT data shows there were 675 Greek enterprises operating at the end of 2015, up from 640 in 2014 and 578 in 2012, according to INSTAT.
Turkish-run enterprises slightly rose to 461 in 2015 while the number of companies from neighboring Kosovo almost doubled to 411.
INSTAT says there were 152 companies from the U.S., 152 from Germany, 92 from the UK and 89 from China.
In 2015 there were 5,939 foreign companies, up 13 percent compared to 2014, of which 1,855 joint ventures with Albanian partners, accounting for only 4 percent of total enterprises in the country.
