Tirana hosts first French agriculture and food fair

TIRANA, April 23 – Some 45 French companies will for the first time introduce their products this weekend in Tirana in a two-day agriculture and food fair. French companies operating in France and the Balkan region will introduce wine, milk, lab equipment, bread, olive oil, medicinal plants and diet food.
“The fair is an opportunity for exchanges and setting contacts,” says the French embassy in a statement.
The first French fair of agriculture and food, organized by the Albanian-French Chamber of Commerce, is scheduled to be held on April 25 and 26 at Sheraton hotel in Tirana.
Since 2013, French businesses in Albania are now represented through a French-Albanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The Chamber is a continuation of the France-Albania Club D’Affaires established a couple of years ago as a linking bridge to strengthen business ties between the two countries. The Chamber says it will support French and Albanian small and medium-sized enterprises. The 38 members of the Chamber employ around 4,000 people in Albania.
Formally established in Sept. 2011 as the France-Albania Club D’Affairs, it includes members from a series of key sectors as Societe Generale, Credit Agricole banks, energy company CNR/GDF-Suez, helicopter transport leader Eurocopter/EADS, Aleat/Morpho engaged in the production of biometric passports and ID cards, the Amadeus Group Sh.A. power supply products, and several Albanian partner companies.
Trade exchanges between Albania and France although constantly rising in recent years remain at very low levels. Annual Bank of Albania data show Albanian exports to France rose to 11 million euros in 2012, registering a historic high but yet representing only 0.7 percent of total exports. Meanwhile, Albanian imports from France dropped to 61 million Euros in 2012, down from a record high of Euro 93 million in 2011, representing only 1.6 percent of total imports for 2012.