Aimed at enhancing operational efficiency and environmental sustainability within the produc¬tion sector, the “PREMA Training in Albania” project is a transformative initiative. Supported by GIZ ProSEED 2.0, and implemented by Balance Center, x80 companies affiliated to various chambers or business associations will be trained untill September 2025. Target are entities with a minimum market presence of three years and a workforce of five employees. 12 certified PREMA experts from Balance Center are supporting the selected companies, facilitating their process towards economic, environmental-climatic, organizational, and social benefits and resilience.
Strategic Partnerships for PREMA Implementation of
Highlighting its commitment to leveraging local expertise and networks to foster sustainable growth and productivity enhancements across Albania’s production sector, this project has established strategic partnerships through Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with:
National Chamber of Crafts in Albania (https://dhkz.org.al/) which promotes, represents and protects the interests of its members at national and international level with the aim of strengthening the image of crafts professions in the country.
Regional Development Agency Berat (https://rdaberat.com/) established as a foundation in 2000 as an initiative of UNDP Albania, the RDAB promotes the development of SMEs in agriculture, tourism and social sectors, as well as the economic and social development of the entire region of Berat.
Chamber of Commerce and Industry Durrës (https://ccidr.al/) is an entity that represents and protects the legal economic interests of its members with primary missions of cooperation between the governance and the businesses, support for new businesses and presenting the members to international networks.
Economic Chamber of Women (https://weca.al) focused on protecting the economic and social interests of women entrepreneurs, professionals and self-employed from all sectors of the economy.
Union of Albanian Producers (www.prodhuesit.org) an entity created in 2016, by a group of the most prominent manufacturing companies in Albania to help the local manufacturing industry increasing the competitiveness of “Made in Albania” products in the national and international market.
Engagement and Motivation of Participants
To facilitate participation, the project organized four informative sessions in different locales, including Durres with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Durres, and two in Tirana focusing on the Chamber of Crafts and the Economic Chamber of Women. A comprehensive virtual session was also held in collaboration with all partner chambers. With 180 representatives of many companies, from different sectors, these sessions aimed to introduce the project’s goals, expected outcomes, and participation benefits to prospective companies, ensuring a broad and inclusive outreach.
PREMA’s Trainings and Capacity Building
In February 2024, the project-initiated training for two groups of 8 selected companies, in partnership with the Chamber of Crafts and the Regional Development Agency Berat. These sessions were enthusiastically received by participating companies, eager to adopt PREMA practices. The training provided insights into the Non-Product Output (NPO)-concepts and PREMA change management tools necessary for implementing tangible improvement measures across four areas: economic, environment and climate, organizational, and social. The participating companies belong to different sectors from agriculture to light industry, and have a geographic distribution that consists of some of the most wide and active regions on entrepreneurship; participants belong to different age ranges and around 33% of them are women.
PREMA’s Progress and Support to Implementing Change in Resource Use
Approximately 90 actionable measures for the optimization of resources and processes have been identified. Participating companies are receiving ongoing support from dedicated coaches, ensuring that training insights lead to tangible actions and results.
Looking Forward
With a solid foundation of strategic partnerships, com¬pre¬hensive training, and targeted support to companies’ change processes, the project’s next phase will deepen engagement with participating companies and monitor implementation progress. Collaboration is set to expand with other chambers and FEDInvest, a microfinance institution, aiming to reach more companies during 2024 and 2025. The project’s success is expected not only to enhance individual company performance with respect to resource efficiency, but also contribute to climate-resilient sustainable economic development, circular economy, and environmental stewardship in Albania.