TIRANA
13-15 JUNE 2014
1° Exhibition of Italian
Machinery and Equipment
for the Agricultural
Mechanization of Albania

Agricultural mechanization in Albania

Albania has a land area of 28,748 km² and a population of over three million.

Farm lands account for 24% of the territory with 44% of the total in coastal areas, 37% in hilly areas and the remaining 9% mountainous. The country's climate and good water sources enable the cultivation of Mediterranean and continental crops but the potential of the strong farming sector has not been fully achieved over the past ten years. The present Albanian government, in office since September 2013, has named the development of the primary sector as a priority on its agenda and has come up with a multi-year plan for the expansion of agriculture in which the modernization and strengthening the country's farm machinery inventory is described as basic. These considerations marked the beginning of cooperation between Albanian authorities and FederUnacoma – whose member agricultural machinery manufacturers are seen as priority partners – and a series of initiatives, including Eima South East Europe, aimed at supporting this modernization plan.

Among other initiatives for upgrading mechanization in Albania, the major instruments now available or moving towards enactment are

  • 20% VAT exemption on purchases of agricultural machinery;
  • IPARD funds of 7 million Euro (EU source) for the allocation of grants to finance up to 60% of the costs sustained for the purchase of capital goods and services for enterprise.
  • A residual credit line of some 7 million Euro – through Italian development cooperation in the framework of an Albanian SME support program – for the purchase in the primary sector of capital goods and services of Italian origin.
  • A 40 million dollar fund to utilize in the agricultural sector made available by the Albanian Credit and Savings Association.

To cite among those not yet completed are:

  • A 3 million Euro fund for upgrading the sheep production chain through Italian cooperation.
  • Lowering taxation on agricultural fuels.
  • Another tranche of European Union funds for agriculture and Italian cooperation funds.

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