Job Creation
AGRIBUSINESS
Agribusiness contributes to around 18% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and creates employment for about 40% of the population. It has tremendous potential for employing young people and disadvantaged groups in rural areas. However, the sector faces numerous challenges such as access to high-value markets, lack of professional knowledge, and limited economic scale due to small production units, resulting in low efficiency and high production costs.
To address these challenges, RisiAlbania has undertaken several interventions. Improving access to high-value markets for fruits and vegetables is an intervention that supports Albanian farmers and exporters to meet quality standards, including social standards such as GlobalGAP certification. With the project's support, for the first time, fruit and vegetable exporters brought farmers together to achieve group GlobalGAP certification, which not only enabled them to access high-value markets but also reduced certification costs. As a result of improved quality, the number of exports to high-value markets increased. The Ministry of Agriculture has also included group GlobalGAP certification as part of its support schemes in this sector.
Another area of intervention is strengthening the value chain of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs). This support includes transitioning from wild collection to cultivation and improving quality during the drying process through farmer and exporter awareness and investments in centralized drying and integrated services for farmers. These measures have helped increase the competitiveness of MAP exporters and improve the quality of their products, creating new jobs.
Finally, the project has helped increase the competitiveness of agribusiness through innovation, introducing innovative ICT solutions such as traceability systems to enhance efficiency and product quality. These systems have been implemented in the fruit and vegetable and MAP sub-sectors, using technologies like Farm Force and Helius for the first time in Albania.
Results:
- 2,003 people employed, including 1,245 women and 918 from marginalized groups.
- 9.4 million EUR in private investments and 1.9 million EUR in additional net income.
- Increase in the area under GlobalGAP certification, reaching up to 760 ha in 2023.
- 21 exporters and over 300 farmers certified GlobalGAP.
- 883 private businesses adopting growth-oriented practices.
- 11 business development service providers offering new or improved services.
TOURISM
Tourism in Albania is a sector with growing potential. In 2023, the tourism sector in Albania contributed around 12-15% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This figure represents a significant increase compared to previous years and highlights the sector's great importance to the Albanian economy. However, it is mainly limited to peak seasons and coastal areas, restricting benefits for inland regions. There has been noticeable progress in the number of visitors coming to Albania over a broader season. However, rural businesses still face difficulties consolidating in the market due to a lack of information regarding standards, services, financial access, and the migration of young people to rural areas or beyond Albania. Currently, challenges lie in service quality, skills, and the "going green" and "digital" transitions in this sector as well.
To address these difficulties, RisiAlbania has contributed to supporting tourism operators in diversifying their tourism offerings by creating new itineraries in rural destinations in collaboration with local businesses and communities. This approach has generated employment for small local businesses and positively impacted local economic development.
For the tourism product to have quality and attract more tourists, it must meet European standards. With the project's support, Albanian tourism businesses have embraced international sustainable tourism standards, enabling them to enter higher-value markets, essentially attracting higher-quality tourists. In 2024, Albania, through the Ministry of Tourism and Environment, became a member of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), institutionalizing its commitment to investments in sustainable tourism.
A competitive product needs worthy promotion where all interested actors come together to promote the region. RisiAlbania has brought together public and private actors in the Gjirokastra, Përmet, and Tepelena regions to promote this destination. This collaboration has laid the foundations for a Destination Management Organization (DMO) in Gjirokastra, a model that sparked the interest and engagement of municipalities and sector businesses in Saranda and Korça as well.
An added value in promoting sustainable tourism is the introduction and implementation of an innovative model for the economic revitalization of abandoned historical areas, "Alberghi Diffusi" (AD). This model has been successfully implemented in Albania, with AD Kruja since 2023, focusing on the revitalization of 20 abandoned houses within the walls of the old city in Kruja. AD Balkans, based in Albania, is exploring extending this model to other areas in Albania, such as Berat and Qytezë. This new hospitality model is now officially recognized as part of the new tourism law in Albania.
Results:
- 1,318 people employed, including 606 women and 358 individuals from marginalized groups.
- 1.9 million EUR in private investments and 400,000 EUR in additional net income for tourism businesses.
- 220 new tourism products benefiting 9,500 tourists.
- 498 local (rural) businesses benefiting from growth-oriented practices.
- 8 Albanian tourism operators adopting GSTC sustainable tourism standards and receiving international certifications.
- 20 tourism professionals and consultants trained as GSTC experts, with 8 qualified as GSTC auditors.
- Three regional partnerships for destination promotion established in Gjirokastra, Saranda, and Korça.
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)
In 2023, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector in Albania contributed around 6.5% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This sector is rapidly growing, offering young people attractive and well-paid job opportunities. In this important sector, RisiAlbania has worked in the subsectors of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Information Technology.
The BPO sector in Albania has a long history, known a decade ago simply as "call centers" with poor working conditions. Over the years, this sector has expanded its range of business services, including legal, economic, human resources, and others. A continuous challenge for this sector has been accessing international markets and investing in human resources. Regarding the IT subsector, its challenges relate to keeping up with technological developments such as e-commerce, e-payment, or AI in European and broader markets, and applying them in various sectors of the Albanian economy. Here too, the main challenges remain standards and human resource development.
To address these challenges, RisiAlbania has undertaken several interventions, including: (i) promoting Albania as a value-added destination for outsourcing by foreign investors, (ii) supporting the Albanian government in feasibility studies for creating technology and innovation parks, such as the Durana Technology Park, which is the first science and technology park in Albania.
In a world increasingly moving towards digitalization, there is a growing need for digital transactions. E-commerce has existed in Albania for years, but it is still an unregulated market in legal and functional terms. For this reason, the project has supported the Ministry of Economy, Innovation, and Culture in developing the action plan for the e-commerce strategy in Albania. Furthermore, the project has supported the e-commerce association in its efforts to regulate this market formally and securely, both for businesses and users. Finally, the project has supported promoting and raising awareness among businesses about the advantages of online payments as another tool offering efficiency in their work. However, at this point, cybersecurity and personal data protection remain a challenge.
For this reason, and to make Albania a safer destination for investments, the project has enabled the certification of local companies with international standards such as ISO 27001 and ISO 27701. ISO 27001 focuses on information security to help organizations demonstrate their security stance to clients and prospects. ISO 27701 focuses on user privacy to help organizations comply with privacy laws worldwide and protect consumer privacy rights. Training and certifying the General Directorate of Accreditation with these standards enabled this Directorate to accredit local certification bodies, thus offering better access for local businesses and reducing certification costs.
Results:
- 2,665 people employed in new positions in the ICT sector, including 1,440 women and 111 individuals from disadvantaged groups.
- €732,523 in additional net income generated by ICT partners and their collaborators thanks to innovative interventions developed with RisiAlbania.
- €5,422,404 in private investments.
- 66 businesses have obtained/are in the process of obtaining new standards and certifications.