A new plant for the manufacturing of the automotive parts, a totally foreign investment, opened its doors in Albania. The investment by the Japanese car parts maker Sumitomo, one of Asian giants in this industry, creates new high-paying jobs and more income possibilities. The company predicts to hire more than 2000 workers by end of 2021 and up to 5000 people in the coming years. Prime Minister Edi Rama, accompanied by the Minister of Economy Anila Denaj, visited the new plant with a total built area of over 5000 square meters in Paskuqan, Tirana suburb.
The company specializes in the production, assembly and design of electrical wiring. The SEWS-CABIND also focuses on the development and production of wiring harnesses for heavy and light industrial vehicles, agricultural machinery, automobiles. “Our company is the first car parts company coming from Japan and our goal is to make all other companies understand how it is possible to do business in Albania. What you see here has been built in one year and during the pandemic,” the CEO of the company said, adding that the goal is to switch from daytime one shift work to three-shift work system.
Albania offers automotive industry manufacturers a competitive investment environment, with a significant cost reduction compared to many countries in Europe. “Last year, we changed the profit tax rate on the automotive industry, cutting it to only 5% from previous rate of 15% and such an initiative was launched after the conversation we had with the Sumitomo executives, who pledged to expand their business activity in Albania and bring more foreign investors in this sector, which, regardless many pandemic-related difficulties is still much stronger than other industries to develop in series. Sumitomo is a direct supplier to the mother companies. It is a leading company, a very important one in terms of foreign investments in Albania and with its development plans, I believe it will be a good promoter of all investors from Japan,” Finance and Economy Minister Denaj said.
This plant not only offers competitive high-paying jobs, but also provides for the staff training, offering young people employment opportunities after being trained by the company. PM Rama said the company offers very high employment potential. ” We are honoured to have you here and I want to especially thank the Ambassador, who has been instrumental in this achievement to have you here. We are available for expansion, even for extensions outside Tirana and in case you want to develop on public property, there are some procedures and it is important to start now. You pay here a lot less in taxes than in Japan, less than in Italy, less than in many other countries. All you need to do is train people to work here and everything will go just fine,” the Premier said.
Sumitomo operates in Albanian market since August 2019.
