STRENGTHENING COMPETITIVENESS OF AGRI-FOOD SMES THROUGH TRANSNATIONAL CLUSTERS 1 PROJECT ACRONYM: FOCUS SUBSIDY CONTRACT—BMPI/1.1/2145/2017-FOCUS ”Entrepreneurship & Innovation” D.3.1.2. Mapping Agrifood Clusters in Balkan-Med (Start: M4, End: M5) Revision: 0 Workpackage WP 3. Task D3.1.2 Due date 31/03/2018 Submission date 30/04/2018 Deliverable lead PP5 (AULEDA) Version Final Authors AULEDA Project Team Abstract This deliverable maps the Agrifood clusters/ networks / associations in the region of Vlora and in ALBANIA in general. Keywords mapping, clusters, agrifood, Albania Disclaimer The information, documentation and figures in this deliverable are written by the FOCUS project consortium under Subsidy Contract—BMPI/1.1/2145/2017-FOCUS and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission. The European Commission is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained herein. Copyright notice © 2017 - 2018 FOCUS Consortium Acknowledgment This report is co-financed by European Union; ERDF the IPA II and National funds of the participating countries under the Cooperation Programme ”Interreg V-B Balkan- Mediterranean 2014-2020” project FOCUS, Subsidy Contract—BMPI/1.1/2145/2017- FOCUS D3.2. Mapping Agrifood Clusters in Balkan-Med Project co-funded by the European Union and National Funds of the participating countries Table of content 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 3 2 2. Scope of the deliverable ........................................................................................................................... 5 3. Contents of the deliverable ....................................................................................................................... 5 4. Data on Agrifood Sectors in ALBANIA .................................................................................................. 6 4.1 Agriculture in the Albanian economy ........................................................................................................... 10 4.2 Situation (problems of the sector) ................................................................................................................. 11 SWOT ANALYSIS Albania Country ........................................................................................................ 12 VLORA REGION ...................................................................................................................................... 13 Economic data in the region ...................................................................................................................... 13 Subsector production ................................................................................................................................. 15 5. Agrofood Sectors involved in FOCUS project ....................................................................................... 16 Vegetables & fruits in Albania ........................................................................................................................... 16 OLIVES & Olive Oil in Albania ........................................................................................................................ 18 Winery in Albania ............................................................................................................................................. 20 Haney sector in Albania..................................................................................................................................... 21 Dairy in Albania ................................................................................................................................................. 22 6. MAIN AGRIFOOD ACTORS ............................................................................................................... 23 Agribusiness, food SME’s, techonology providers, food producers, retailers .................................................... 23 Academia/Research & Institution ....................................................................................................................... 24 7. Start-ups & Incubators ........................................................................................................................... 28 8. Business support organizations/Others .................................................................................................. 33 Technological and Science Parks ....................................................................................................................... 35 Policy Makers ..................................................................................................................................................... 36 9. Existing Agri-food clusters/ networks/ partnerships ....................................................................................... 38 Analysis of mapping methodology ..................................................................................................................... 38 General Information of each selected cluster...................................................................................................... 38 10. Recommendations and defined gaps in R & D activities and partnerships ............................................ 52 11. Conclusions .................................................................................................................................................. 61 12. References .............................................................................................................................................. 62 D3.2. Mapping Agrifood Clusters in Balkan-Med Project co-funded by the European Union and National Funds of the participating countries 1. Introduction AULEDA is a non-profit non-governmental organization established in 09/07/2003 in Vlora, Albania, as part of the international network of Local Economic Development Agencies. The establishment of AULEDA in 2003 has been made possible with the United Nations support and was development as part of the ILSLEDA. It is an independent body, 3 with its own legal structure and functional autonomy, based on a public-private partnership. AULEDA’s mission is to sustain the social, economic, cultural and environmental development of Vlora region, reinforcing and integrating its own resources according to the principles of human development. Specifically, AULEDA contributes to establishing and strengthening local and regional Strategic Planning in Vlora area, and provides support to institutions and civil society in their commitment to comprehensive local development. AULEDA innovative characteristic is its approach to territorial development. Indeed, it is the first Albanian organization dedicated to enhancing the involvement of regional public and private stakeholders in the process of regional development, therefore constituting an example of good practices and defining a reproducible model of regional management. AULEDA not only realizes feasibility studies for development initiatives and helps in defining the territorial strategic planning, but also supports the development of local people's capacities and skills in territorial management and the application of participatory methods in regional development decisions. Moreover, AULEDA is directly committed to the population of Vlora region with initiatives that sustain economic activities with a positive social impact and support a working model that favors professional inclusion of vulnerable groups. Providing services as mapping of local resources, support to business planning and management, sustain to enterprises networking and to social economy, and mostly operating in priority economic sectors for regional development as sustainable tourism, agro-food production, fishing and craft, AULEDA serves about 300,000 residents in the seven municipalities and 19 communes of Vlora region. In the last 15 years AULEDA has demonstrated professionalism in realizing its mission and objectives, generating interest and financial support from a variety of donors and partners including UNOPS, UNDP, European Union, Oxfam GB, Soros Foundation, Italian Cooperation, American Embassy in Tirana. During the 15 years of activities AULEDA has implemented around 40 projects focused on tourism, agriculture, environment, public administration, handcraft and medicinal herbs industry, energy and ICT sector etc. Auleda has also implemented 13 IPA projects, 5 of them under the IPA Cross Border program, 3 from IPA program, one IPA Strategic, one IPA capitalization, one from ADRION Program and 2 projects from Interreg Med programm. Some of the projects are: Cross border integrated alternative tourism Albania –Macedonia – IPA CBC Shared Integrated alternative tourism; SSM Nature (Innovative Space Satellite Monitoring of the Environmental Natural Resources of the Cross – Border Area Greece – Albania; KEPASS- Knowledge Exchange program for the Adriatic School System; SMARTINNO- Smart Network and Sustainable Innovation Cluster to increase RDI Competitiveness of SMEs; IPATECH- Miniaturization technology: synergies of research D3.2. Mapping Agrifood Clusters in Balkan-Med Project co-funded by the European Union and National Funds of the participating countries and innovation to enhance the economic development of the Adriatic; PITAGORA - Platform for the Information Technology Aimed at Getting Opportunities