Who Were the Largest Foreign Investors in Albania in Q1?

TIRANA, June 25

The Netherlands was confirmed as the largest foreign investor in Albania during the first quarter (Q1) of 2019. The data on the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) unveiled on Tuesday by the Bank of Albania (BoA) confirm that FDI stood at €77 million. This was 11.4 percent less compared to the same period of 2018 three times more compared to the fourth quarter of the previous year.
The major investors from the Netherlands are Statkraft and Shell. The former has its headquarters in Oslo, but it is listed by BoA as a Dutch investor. In the meantime, Shell continues to invest in oil research in Shpirag area, Berat.

For the first time, Switzerland is not the main investor in Albania. Swiss FDI inflow, the main source of investments in the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) were at €67 million in Q1, 2019, or 37 percent less compared to Q1, 2018. This decline is due to the fact that the TAP project is on its final stage. The pipeline is expected to be completed by 2019.

Austria ranks as the third largest investor in Albania with a total of €25 million during the first quarter of the year while Turkey ranks fourth with € 19 million.

Italian investment marked a significant growth in Q1 by reaching € 15 million.
The opposite happened to French investment that declined by 55 percent mostly because of the TAP project reaching its final stages. French investments in Q1 2019 were € 12 million.

Foreign investor countries based on FDI stock

Based on the total value of direct investments over a period of years, Switzerland is the main investor in Albania with €1.37 billion
Greece ranks second with a total FDI stock of €1.14 billion
The Netherlands is third with €1.1 billion
Canada is fourth with €976 million
Italy ranks fifth with €693 million
Turkey ranks sixth with €578 million.
Source/Photo Credit: BoA