Strengthening the fabric of Albania's textile industry
The EU-funded project 'Reinforcement of human and material capacities of the Textile Technology Research Centre in Albania' (Retexresalb) set out to strengthen the capacities of the Textile Department at the Polytechnic University of Tirana (UPT) in Albania as well as enhance collaboration with the country's textile industry. Project efforts focused on training for Albanian teaching staff and researchers, visits to the textile departments at Belgium's Ghent University and Greece's Technological Education Institute (TEI) Piraeus, participation in research activities and seminars, and workshops for the transfer of knowledge on new production technologies. Funding was also used to purchase new equipment for textile quality control. In this way, human and material capacities at the Textile Technology Research Centre in Tirana, Albania were strengthened and further developed for a more competitive Albanian textile industry with higher export levels leading to increased employment possibilities. Retexresalb project partners also undertook networking activities with a view to gaining access for UPT to the Association of Universities for Textiles (AUTEX) network of European textile universities. Such an accomplishment would help maintain contact with EU textile universities for future joint research and activities.
