TIRANA, September 8/ATA/ The orientation of Albanian agricultural exports from the Balkan countries to high-value markets such as Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, England, and Sweden and beyond, remains the main objective for the producers and exporters of this sector.
In a recent study on the development of the agricultural sector, the World Bank pointed out that Albania has potential in agricultural products, but for some crops there is an opportunity for profits to grow faster.
For example, the same kind of tomato is exported from Albania at a low value, no more than 0.5 dollars per kilogram; while from Italy; the same tomato is exported to the markets of Great Britain at 2.4 USD per kilogram. Thus, Albanian farmers would triple their profits if they moved exports from the region to developed markets such as Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, USA, etc.
According to specialized international certifications for quality, the average tomato has been evaluated with above-average competitiveness and is one of the most worthy products to find new export markets in developed countries.
Experts from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that the process and challenge has not been easy, due to the structures and small size of the farms and the corresponding costs.
Thanks to help from donors such as the Swiss Embassy, some of the exporters are making it possible to get GLobalG.A.P. certificate.
The certification is a requirement of large supermarket chains in Europe.
Thanks to the above efforts of exporters, the area of certified production has increased from 40 hectares in 2018 to about 500 hectares in 2021-2022. This has given the first effect, along with investment efforts in marketing and quality improvement in cooperation with our farmers. Meanwhile, the expectations are for the increase of Albanian agricultural exports in high value markets. /j.p/p.s./
