A delegation of 50 Slovenian companies, headed by Slovenia’s economy minister Andrej Vizjak held an investment forum in Tirana on Tuesday. The economic forum was an event supported by the two countries’ chambers of commerce. About 100 companies from Albania, as well as Prime Minister Sali Berisha and Economy Minister Genc Ruli took part. Vizjak highlighted the strong interest of Slovenian companies to invest both in the public and private sector in Albania. The primary fields of interest were energy, infrastructure, transport and industry.
A special interest is the privatization of the fixed-line monopoly Albtelecom and its mobile unit, Eagle Mobile. According to Vizjak, Slovenia has an interest in the telecom and internet services sectors in the region. Telekom Slovenije recently acquired a majority stake in Macedonia’s second largest internet provider, On.Net as well as the largest internet provider in Kosovo, Ipko Net. The company also submitted the second best bid in the tender for Telekom Slovenije.
Vizjak also congratulated Albania on the recent signing of the association accord with the European Union. He stressed that this will create further opportunities for economic cooperation and will expand bilateral trade. Both Berisha and Ruli emphasized that the government is willing to facilitate the entry of Slovenian investments in Albania by providing fiscal stimuli and improving the overall business environment.
In a related note, the Council of Ministers noted that Berisha also took part in a meeting with a group of Belgian investors on Tuesday, who arrived in Tirana to explore opportunities for doing business in the country. Berisha outlined the priorities of the government in increasing the attractiveness of Albania as an investment destination. The new liberal democratic government embarked on a mission to curb corruption and the informal economy. Part of its strategy is the reduction of the fiscal burden to the corporate sector and the introduction of incentives for businesses.