The discussion panel aimed to provide an overview of the local market in terms of the construction materials industry, and brought together construction materials manufacturers, designers, and market analysts, who exchanged their experiences regarding operating difficulties in the local market, but also the opportunities that this market offers.
During the conference it was discussed about the importance of the development of this industry in terms of economic development and it was requested from local institutions both local and central, that through public procurement to build facilities with local materials, where 90% of materials are manufactured in our country, which would affect the growth of the market and the strengthening of this sector.
Visar Dobroshi, from the company Recura, invited to this panel said that the analysis of the construction and real estate market in general is increasing, where this industry itself is fourth in terms of employment, with around 9.5% of employees. “The real estate market, the manufacturing market, the financial market, the construction market is still not saturated, on the contrary we have an increase in demand. There is no indication that the demand is declining, although prices have risen, but this has resulted in the positive fact that the quality and standard of living has risen. So, we have a trend of increasing demand for construction, but there is still an imbalance between the import and export of construction materials. ” – he said.
While Mustafa Borovci from the company Brickos, said that the local demand for the manufacturing of clay products is met by local manufacturers, where the import of construction materials of this type has decreased significantly since the war. “The import of construction products from clay comes from Albania, Montenegro and Serbia, while our export to these countries is smaller. The industry we represent has over a thousand employees and produces over 15 different types of profiles, where only the production of facade tiles and bricks is missing, which are mainly imported from Belgium. “Maybe this is a good opportunity for us to focus more on this in the near future.” – he said during the discussion.
But according to Borovci, there are two main problems that this industry faces and that do not leave the sustainable development of this industry, which have to do with the lack of skilled labor and extreme bureaucracies with local institutions.
Ideal Vejsa, from Maden Group, as a designer but also a construction developer, showed that the country is still in the initial stage of construction, where demand has begun to grow. According to him, “As a market we have started to grow with the manufacturing of local construction materials, where we have sufficiently covered the market leaving no room for imports. And the use of local products is a global trend, not only in our country, where the use of basic and sustainable materials has increased, which protect the environment and are efficient. The standardization of construction has also started, where attention has started to be paid to the conditions and quality of construction.”
Burim Fazliu from the company TehnoBurimi, a company that deals with the manufacturing of electric poles, showed that as a company they are present in the local market, but also in Albania and much less in Macedonia. “We have numerous tariff and non-tariff barriers which do not allow us to export to Macedonia, and we ask the country’s authorities that the same conditions apply to imported goods coming from these countries,” he said. Also Mr. Fazliu cited the challenge of a shortage of skilled workers as one of the main problems.
Whereas Kastriot Lluka from the company Line Group, showed that there has been a very large development of the construction materials market since the post-war period. “We are much more advanced in terms of manufacturing of construction materials with countries in the region, where the latest technology is used. Construction has started to be oriented by sustainability and efficiency, where in addition to design, importance is also given to structure. Demand is also increasing, where the period of cessation of production during the pandemic, has affected the increase in demand for materials at the time when production began. “Also, this period has pushed us to think about replacing the products we import, especially it is a very good opportunity for the production of raw materials, where the European market is in short supply.”