“EXPECTATIONS FOR 2020”
Tom Kristian LARSEN
CEO and Country Head Albania of STATKRAFT/Devoll Hydropower
I encourage the public as well as private sector to push for continuous improvements and implementation of reforms and measures for increasing transparency as well as decreasing corruption and unfair competition. Only by relentlessly handling such endemic legacies can the country truly move forward to realize its full potential for a stronger economy and broader prosperity.
Mario BRACCI
CEO of Antea CEMENT
2020 is expected to be another challenging year for Antea Cement. Cement consumption in the domestic market for the past 2-3 years has shown signs of stability accompanied by a modest growth, the company remains optimistic that such trends will remain stable for the year ahead. Nevertheless, the company remains cautious about developments that might undermine the current stability in the market which are related to the liquidity in the market, availability and progress of existing projects, as well as production costs.
Similarly the company will be as well active in the export activities by exporting in the neighboring countries as well as in the Mediterranean region, however such exports will depend as usual on the on the production costs of the company in order to achieve profitable exports due to high competitive pricing in the international market.
Stela DHAMI, MBA, LEED® GA
Managing Partner of Colliers International
From the real estate perspective, year 2020 is a year that will see continuous growth in the tourism sector and more specifically in the hotel subsector of the market. However, the earthquake of 26th of November will have an impact on the desire of new brands to enter the Albanian market and primarily the Durres-Golem area. Interest will increase for the Riviera portion of the coast, but here investments in infrastructure are instrumental in attracting world recognized brands.
Other real estate segments of the market will see change. The office sector will see an increase in stock in the foreseeable future coming from the increased number of office and mixed use buildings being built currently in Tirana, where the main economic activity occurs in the country. The increase in stock will drive downward pressure on real estate rental prices. The retail sector will not see any change as there are no plans for future major retail projects in the country. We will see however the development of big box retail in other cities of Albania to house some of the large space retailers. New retailers that will find the perfect balance between quality and price will be accepted positively in the market by the consumers who in our market are very price sensitive. The residential market will be over saturated given that we already have an oversupply of unsold apartments. High end residential stock will continue to attract investors in the peripheral areas of the city that attract buyers who are looking for a lifestyle change.
Rohan D’SOUZA
Country Chairman of Shell Industries Albania
Shell is proud of the progress we have made in Albania over the last few years. Our strategy is to deliver a world-class investment case, to thrive in the energy transition, and to maintain a strong societal licence to operate. We see signs for optimism in the continuing reform agenda being collaboratively employed by Government and the International Community. We look forward to continuing to work with many Albanian companies and the Albanian Government over the year ahead.
Përparim KALO
Founder and Managing Partner of KALO & ASSOCIATES
2020 opens a new decade, so it is not simply a new year, but the beginning of 10 years period of regeneration and healing of sectors of economics and politics and of major events and developments such as the likelihood of opening of negotiations for EU membership, completion of OSCE chairmanship, reconstruction of massive buildings damaged by the earthquakes, etc. These events call for greater involvement of businesses in mobilizing the energy Albanian people have and create more opportunities for using such energy to improve the Doing Business climate. FIAA as a leading business organization will have to play an important role to raise optimism of business community through an open, but very demanding dialogue with the Albanian public institutions, especially with law making and law enforcement agencies.
This year is considered very special because of expected travel to space on the new rover by early autumn, and hopefully will coincide with Albania starting official travel to EU…
Xingyun SUN
CEO of Bankers Petroleum Albania
We are expecting the tax regime in Albania can keep stable and all monitoring and inspections from the government or its agency should strictly respect laws and regulations.