The Albanian Minister of Economy Arben Ahmetaj attended the round table of Ministers of Economy organized at the Western Balkan countries Summit in Vienna, Austria and presented the priority projects of the Albanian government. According to Ahmetaj, there are four projects which the government seeks support by the regional countries and the European Union for their successful implementation.
According to Ahmetaj, Western Balkan Ministers of Economy should meet the next year and discuss about the costs and benefits of certain projects and before this countries should have compiled feasibility studies for several proposed projects. Ahmetaj presented to other Ministers four priority projects of the Albanian government in this regard:
The Minister proposed each joint project to have a regional coordinator of high level, a “connectivity commissioner” with background in economy and politics. The commissioners will be in charge of following the implementation of joint projects step by step, in coordination with regional countries and the European Union.
The second proposal made by the Minister of Economy was a previous proposal made by the Prime Minister Edi Rama. “Prime Minister Rama has proposed the establishment of a regional economic union, the regional economic integration as a preliminary phase for the EU integration and also the establishment of the Regional Development Bank.” Ahmetaj said such initiative has started with Kosovo by cutting the non-tariff barriers for trade exchanges, the reduction of bureaucracies and the standardization of procedures. We intend to implement such project even with Serbia, Montenegro and all regional countries.
Western Balkan countries will not have sufficient funds for the feasibility studies according to Ahmetaj and for this we need the support of the EU. These countries cannot increase further their international debt, stated Ahmetaj at the round table of Western Balkan countries Ministers of Economy.
The fourth proposal presented at the meeting was the vocational training. “Vocational training is a real infrastructure. We have the advantage of low cost of workforce but we lack qualification in several fields. German and Austrian models of vocational training can be great examples to apply by western Balkan countries, with a regional approach,” ended his word the Albanian Minister of Economy.
News source/photo credits: Ministry of Economy
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