Customs and Interior Design: an Albanian Business Family in Hungary

Albanian businessman Avni Hafuzi has been living in Hungary since 1980. He has a company dealing with customs services offered in the country. Helping out with the family business and at the same time fostering her own career in a completely different field is his interior designer daughter, Fatime.

Albanian businessman Avni Hafuzi arrived in Hungary back in 1980. His company, A&M is a well-known to transport agencies for its customs services offered in Budapest but it also has several offices in the country to help customs administration. The firm was established in 1993 with the aim of operating a customs agency in the outskirts of Budapest according to European norms. In addition, it rents and operates warehouses (including cold storage ones) with 24-hour security and related logistics support.

Avni Hafuzi is also the representative of the Hungarian trade development agency ITDH for Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia. He is active in seeking business opportunities and promoting trade development. He works in close cooperation with the Albanian ambassador to Hungary. It’s a continuous, long-term job and requires constant relations with Albania.

A mixed family

Helping out with the family business and at the same time fostering her own career in a completely different field is his daughter Fatime. She is an interior designer of rising
fame in Hungary. “We are a mixed family as my mother is Hungarian and my father is Albanian. I can profit from this double mentality as we have a broader view of things. I can see the world in more colors, which is definitely an advantage in her work”, says Fatime who graduated from art school and is a stained glass maker and interior designer by trade. She has been working in her own business for three years and now is also opening an office. Following the footsteps of her father, she takes the risk of running her own business.

Ideas into practice

“You have to study the characteristics and personality of the clients in order to find the best solution for them,”, she says as she does not like to create uniform living environments, her work is always a tailor-made mix of her own professional ideas and the
requirements of the client. She has a reliable circle of craftsmen and builders, carpenters,
painters, tailors, and so on, who put the ideas into practice to create the final look. She also does turn-key projects where the client is continuously consulted. What would an apartment look if she did one for herself? “I’m sure it would be of eclectic style as I know so many different styles that I may not be able to choose a particular one.”

Promoting Albania

The other subject she likes to talk about is Albania where she makes family visits about
once a year. “Most people are not aware of the massively developing Albania, they only
have a picture of the underdeveloped country of the past or the proximity of the war in Kosovo. We feel that the good side must also be shown like the beautiful sea coast with sandy beaches, hotels and apartment houses springing up like mushroom with wonderful architectural solutions. Assets are well utilized with solar applications, the road network is being expanded to provide better access to rural areas. All this results in a growing number of tourists visiting the country and it is also a great opportunity for investors to start development projects that can be just as successsful as the ones in neighboring
Montenegro.”