It can be considered as the most generous country, which has spent a lot of funds in the form of investments in Albania. This country is Greece, which leads the list of countries who have invested in Albania, leaving behind, by several times, countries which may have a bigger economic potential. But this doesn’t seem to have prevented entrepreneurs from neighboring countries to see our country as a good opportunity of investments, thus continuing the historical trend of the past 27 years.
According to the data supplied by the Bank of Albania, in the first quarter of this year, foreign direct investments made by Greece in Albania amounted to 1.222 million euros. This figure has increased compared to a year ago, when this figure was 1.206 million euros or 2 years ago when this figure was around 1.175 million euros. Greece is followed by Holland. At the beginning of the year, the amount of its investments in the country was 869 million euros as opposed to 688 million euros a year ago.
Meanwhile, the map of FDI spreads even more in the geographical aspect, placing Canada third in the list of countries which have chosen Albania to spend their money in the form of investments. Canadian investments in Albania this year amounted to 839 million euros, as opposed to 740 million euros last year. Italy, which is closer to Albania and which has a tradition of economic cooperation with our country, Italy, is behind Canada. In the first quarter of the year, the total amount of Italian investments in Albania was 576 million euros, or two times less than Greece, although it has been constantly considered as Albania’s main trade partner. But, in terms of FDIs, it doesn’t seem that way.
The same theory also applies for Turkey, the investments of which in our country amount to around 500 million euros as opposed 400 million 2/3 years ago. However, the amount Turkish investments in Albania have registered a growth. The same thing can also be said for investments coming from Austria, which at the start of this year amounted to 443 million euros. Investments from Austria are higher than investments from Germany, an important economic partner for our country. But, the amount of investments from this country made to Albania was only 141 million euros this year. The UK and France, two countries which have powerful economies, have not invested a lot in Albania. Their investments amount to 40 and 80 million euros respectively.
Cayman and Virgin islands, the “surprise” of the map
They can be considered as the “surprise” of the map of direct foreign investments in our country, because at a time when many Albanians still don’t know where they are on the World map, Cayman Islands or Virgin Islands seem to have invested a great amount of money in their country. The Cayman Islands, which are close to Cuba, are known in the world for the so called “offshore companies”. This country has invested 30 million euros in our country. Meanwhile, the British Virgin Islands, which are situated near the Caribbean, are said to have invested around 2 million euros in Albania. Even Panama, which was mentioned as a country with offshore companies (Panama Papers scandal), seems to have invested money in Albania, namely 4 million euros. This figure has been growing from 2 million euros in 2015. Another interesting country which appears on the map of foreign direct investments is Cyprus with 148 million euros, exceeding even countries with a powerful economy such as Germany, etc.
Even the Arabs have invested lots of money in Albania, Lebanon and UAE lead
The Arab countries too seem to have invested lots of money in Albania in the recent years. So, their list is led by Lebanon, with a total of 63 million euros in foreign direct investments. This figure has constantly grown, if it is compared to the 2014 figure which was 43 million euros. Lebanon is followed by the United Arab Emirates, which has invested up to 20 million euros in our country. Meanwhile, the list offered by the Bank of Albania doesn’t seem to have countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, etc. Meanwhile, negative figures are provided in terms of the investments made in our country, such as the case of Kuwait with up to -4 million euros.
MISSING COUNTRIES
What can be noticed in the map of countries that have invested in our country is the absence of a number of them which are known for their economic potential. For instance, one of them is Russia, which has not been included in the map at all. Or Brazil, which is one of the greatest economic powers. Or even India and so on. Meanwhile, even China, which is known for its geo-strategic interest on Western Balkan, has only 7 million euros worth of investments in our country.
