The Albanian and Italian governments signed on December 12 the new Protocol of Collaboration for Development for 2014-2016, a very important collaboration moment between the two countries. The signing of this document is a proof of the serious engagement of the Italian government to support Albania in the process of the EU integration. For the implementation of this protocol, the Italian government has put in disposal an amount of 81.7 million EUR, 56.7 ml EUR of them are given in the form of a soft loan, 20 ml EUR go as a debt conversion and 5 ml EUR are given as a grant.
The Italian Cooperation for Development is an important institution, operating actively in Albania since 1991, and since then the Italian government has given circa 700 ml EUR as grants or soft loans for different projects in Albania.
The strategic priorities which will be supported for the three upcoming years relate to the increase of sustainability through encouraging competition and the efficient usage of resources. In this respect, the Italian government has financed projects whose focus is the boost of foreign investments, at an amount of 22.4 ml EUR. As for the agriculture sector and the rural development, there has been given a fund of 5 ml EUR and 16.2 ml EUR for the energy sector.
As for investments in the human capital and social cohesion, the protocol predicts to finance the second phase of Program of Debt Conversion for social sectors with a fund of 20 ml EUR and the vocational education sector with a fund of 5 ml EUR. 0.8 ml EUR will be given to developing projects related to the good governance, democratization of the legal state and the support of territorial and administrative reforms.
News source: ATA
Photo credits: geralt – Pixabay
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