Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (Albania)

GIZ has been working in Albania on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) since development cooperation between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Albania began in 1988. GIZ opened an office in Tirana in 2008 and currently has 11 field staff, four CIM experts and 56 national personnel working in the country.

GIZ in Albania is addressing the problems regarding unemployment. Doing so successfully requires a more competitive private sector. For this reason companies receive support in strengthening their capacities. In the agricultural sector, programmes are helping to improve productivity as well as the economic perspectives of people living in disadvantaged regions. Other focus areas are shortcomings in water supply. Moreover, in many cases waste treatment does not take place according to recent standards. Support in the environmental sector focusses on reducing pollution from solid waste, protecting biodiversity from overuse of the land and preventing floods, particularly in river basins, that might increase due to climate change. Getting closer to an accession to the EU is an integral part of the projects in Albania.

Priority areas of GIZ’s work in Albania are:

• Sustainable Economic Development: increasing the competitiveness of companies, improving the investment climate and amending the economic legislations to the EU aquis, foster vocational training.
  
• Agricultural and Rural Development: increasing productivity in agriculture, employment in rural areas and strengthening tourism in rural areas.
  
• Water and Solid Waste: offering support to restructuring the institutional setting of the water sector, providing technical assistance to improve water supply and sanitation in municipalities, supporting Albania in the solid waste management strategy which will lead to improving solid waste management in municipalities.
  

In the region the western Balkans receive support in the fields of biodiversity and rural development, adaptation to climate change, legal reforms, the EU integration process, municipal services, trade promotion and energy efficiency.