Director General of Customs, Minister of Finance and British Ambassador Inspect New Border Monitoring Systems at Bllatë Border Crossing Point

Bllatë, 8 June 2026 – Director General of Customs Besmir Beja, together with Minister of Finance Petrit Malaj and the British Ambassador to Albania, Nicholas Abbott, visited the Bllatë Border Crossing Point to observe firsthand the investment made by the United Kingdom in the modernization of monitoring and control systems at Albania’s border crossing points.

The visit focused on the results of a project funded by Home Office International Operations, which enabled the installation of modern camera systems and monitoring technologies at 11 customs locations across the country, with a total investment of £1.6 million.

Director General of Customs Besmir Beja highlighted the importance of this investment in strengthening the operational capacities of the Albanian Customs Administration. “As the beneficiary of this project, the General Directorate of Customs now has at its disposal 121 new state-of-the-art cameras, enabling us to monitor all our border crossing points in the most effective way possible. Every citizen and every business entering the territory of the Republic of Albania will receive the necessary level of control while also benefiting from faster and more efficient procedures,” said Beja.

Minister of Finance Petrit Malaj emphasized that the investment provided by the United Kingdom represents a significant contribution to enhancing border security and modernizing control infrastructure at customs points. “Today we are at the Bllatë Customs Point together with the British Ambassador and the Director General of Customs to witness firsthand the investment made by the United Kingdom through the Home Office in border monitoring camera systems. This investment covers 11 customs locations and amounts to £1.6 million,” stated Minister Malaj.

For his part, the British Ambassador to Albania, Nicholas Abbott, praised the close cooperation between British institutions and the Albanian Customs Administration, highlighting the tangible results achieved in recent years and the willingness to further deepen this partnership. “What we have achieved through our cooperation with Customs is a genuine example of the close partnership that now exists between our two countries on these issues. We have delivered positive results through positive cooperation, and I am truly pleased that we have had the opportunity to work together over recent years to reach this stage,” Ambassador Abbott said.

Over the years, the Albanian Customs Administration and British institutions have built a successful partnership in the fields of border security and the fight against illicit activities. Through the support of Home Office International Operations and HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), investments have been made in advanced monitoring technologies, automatic number plate recognition systems, and joint operational programmes, all of which have contributed to increasing the effectiveness of controls and strengthening efforts against smuggling and illicit trafficking.

This partnership has also delivered tangible results through joint operations conducted at the Port of Durrës and other border crossing points, and is widely regarded as a model of cooperation in the Western Balkans region.

The General Directorate of Customs remains committed to continuing investments in technology and the modernization of control processes in order to enhance security, facilitate legitimate trade, and provide more efficient services to citizens and businesses.