25 students from the International Finance bachelor’s degree option at the School of Business and their professors Dr. Karsten Lorenz and Dr. Markus Hehn spent an extremely fascinating project week at our partner university Epoka in Tirana, Albania. Throughout the week, the students from Mainz worked in teams with Albanian students on various topics from the fields of banking and finance. Exciting field trips related to these topics were also arranged. During a meeting at the Albanian Ministry of Finance, there was an opportunity for an exchange with the Head of Cabinet, Merita Gurabardhi (MBA). The discussion included the extremely dynamic and impressive development of the country and the ongoing path to future EU membership.
During a visit to Intesa Sanpaolo Albania, one of Albania’s leading private banks, CEO Alessandro D’Oria presented the bank's strategy for the Albanian market and showed the group the bank branch of the future – a combination of digital and brick and mortar branches in a specially designed and constructed environment. The Central Bank of Albania gave a presentation on the financial policy challenges of a rapidly growing economy and offered the group a fascinating tour of the Museum of the Bank of Albania. The stay in Tirana was supplemented by various cultural highlights, including a visit to Kruja Castle and an outing to Durres. On the last day, the teams presented their final projects to the Albanian and German professors. In the evening, the outstanding results were duly celebrated, and the students were presented with certificates of participation. “It was very impressive to see how the German and Albanian students worked together and developed their intercultural skills alongside their academic work on the project topics,” emphasizes Markus Hehn, adding “I am very confident that one or two of the collaborations in the teams will lead to a friendship.”