By Trend

The 26th edition of Tirana International Fair kicked off on Saturday here in the Albanian capital, Trend reports citing Xinhua.

The fair, organized by Klik Ekspo Group, is an event approved by the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI).

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Minister of State for the Protection of Entrepreneurship Eduard Shalsi commended the fair for doing an extraordinary job in the past 26 years and for being an attractive model for investors in Albania.

He said his ministry has just set up a network of coordinators to help deal with business requests, complaints and suggestions, and to beat bureaucracy.

Ines Mucostepa, head of the Union of Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Albania, said Tirana International Fair has turned into a place where domestic and foreign entrepreneurs meet to establish economic cooperation and relations as well as a place to welcome foreign direct investment.

Mucostepa also welcomed the participation of the Chambers of Commerce of Italy, Hungary, Istanbul, Serbia, Montenegro, and Chinese entrepreneurs, who have been coming to the fair for many years.

Chinese Ambassador to Albania Zhou Ding expressed his pleasure to attend the fair and see the presence of 20 Chinese companies at the fair.

Albania is one of the first countries that forged diplomatic relations with China in 1949, Zhou said. Citing data from Albania's Institute of Statistics, he said trade between China and Albania amounted to 551 million U.S. dollars in 2018, making China Albania's fourth trading partner.

For four days, a total of 300 foreign exhibitors from over 18 countries will have the opportunity to interact with their Albanian counterparts.

According to the organizer, construction, energy, environment, tourism, telecommunications, infrastructure, food, art and education, technology and more will all feature at the fair on Nov. 23-26.