Years go by and the economic interests of other countries toward Albania change, but the list of those who invest in the country continues to be the same. So, although at particular times we see potential entrepreneurs emerging with significant investments in Albania, they are still not able to grab the first spot on the list, because for years now, Greece continues to be the country which has invested the most in Albania. Greece is followed by Macedonia, another neighboring country. According to the data provided by the Bank of Albania, the stock of investments made by Greece amounted to 1.27 billion euros in the second quarter of the year. If we compare it with the general stock of investments which, for this period was 6 billion euros, we can say without a doubt that Greek investments account for a quarter of the total of foreign direct investments made in Albania throughout the years. This is a trend which was preserved during this year, when during the month of April, May and June 2017, they amounted to 30 million euros, 1 million euros less than the first quarter of the year. On the other hand, it needs to be stressed that Macedonia comes as a surprise for Albania, as far as foreign investments are concerned. These investments are registering a growth from one year to another and they come second in the list of investing countries. The Bank of Albania reports that in the second quarter of this year, Macedonian investments were 50 million euros, as opposed to 18 million euros in the first quarter. Meanwhile, throughout the years, investments from the neighboring country have seen an increasing trend, from 718 million euros last year to 817 million euros this year. And this is an interesting fact, given that Macedonia went through a political crisis in the first months of the year, the same as Albania. This could have had an impact in the economic relations between our countries, but it wasn’t the case.
PHENOMENON
Although every once in a while we see Austrian or Canadian entrepreneurs emerging with significant investments, they still cannot overcome Greece in terms of the total invested throughout the years
Once upon a time there were Italian investors
Once upon a time there were Italian investors… This is what we can say today when the money that they are investing in Albania is declining. Meanwhile, their total seems to be half of the Greek investments. If we refer to figures, we will see that throughout the years, Italy has invested in Albania a total of 632 million euros. Meanwhile, what we also notice in the list of Italian investments is the fact that during this year, they have seen a significant drop. So, from an amount of 19 million euros which Italian entrepreneurs have invested in our country during the first quarter of the year, in the second quarter they only invested 3 million euros. This is a clear indicator of their falling interest in our country in the economic aspect.
Canada, a big investor in Albania, albeit the distance
Canada is a country many kilometers away from Albania, but this is not the case in the financial aspect, while this country has invested lots of money here. This is reflected by the recent figures that the Bank of Albania has provided on foreign investments, where Canada is listed third, after Greece and Macedonia. With a total of 810 million euros at the end of the second quarter of the year, this country comes before other investors who are expressing an increasing interest on our country, such as Switzerland with a total of 627 million euros or even Austria, the investments of which have seen a progressive growth from one year to another, to reach a total of 409 million euros. Let us recall that Bankers Petroleom, which for years operated in the Albanian oil fields of Matos-Marinza, but which has been sold to the Chinese now, is a Canadian company. As far as the Austrians are concerned, we just need to mention their important investment in the Albanian energy sector with the hydro-power plant of Ashta.
CHINA
A lot has been said on Chinese direct foreign investments. But where are they? Because according to the data coming from the central bank, until the end of last year, Chinese investments have seen a decline, namely, -1 million euros. Even in total, Chinese foreign investments seem to be very low. This year they amounted to 6 million euros, despite talks about their potential investment on the construction of the Road of Arber or even investments in other important sectors such as energy. Meanwhile, the Chinese have acquired Bankers Petroleum shares.
