Hello everyone,

Ladies and gentlemen who are here today at the Embassy of the Republic of Albania in China,

I would like to welcome you all to our house. I would also like to express my gratitude for the warm Chinese hospitality, which is an expression of your tradition and culture of politeness and respect.

One of the main goals of my visit here is without a doubt the promotion of Albania, as a country that offers not only plenty of opportunities for Chinese economic actors and much more, because of a deep-rooted tradition of relations between our two countries.

The photo exhibition “Colours of Albania”, which we will see shortly, is clear evidence of the fact that Albania is a country with a dynamic economy in the area of ​​South-East Europe, with a clear orientation towards European Union membership.

Hence, it is a special pleasure for me to be here today and share with you some views on the important economic transformation that our country is undergoing. Naturally, traditional economic growth resources with which we were accustomed to over the past 20 years did not generate development, and we are gradually replacing them with new, stable and long-term resources.

In this context, we are working to stimulate priority sectors such as tourism, agriculture, manufacturing and energy. By drafting a legislative framework which favors investments in these sectors, we are also working systematically to facilitate the presence of foreign investors in these areas.

Our economy is growing thanks to drastic reforms that we have undertaken in recent years, focusing primarily on:

• a clear and reliable fiscal policy;
• investments aimed at increasing the living standard of our citizens;
• and the fight against informal economy,

thus transforming our economy into an economy based on the rule of law.

Surely, for a country like Albania, which still has much work to do in terms of democratic and economic development, it is not easy to talk about figures with regard to economic growth, for these figures are always relative.

When we refer to our economic growth of 2.5 to 2.6% per year, in European terms, this is a very high growth, but compared to the progress Albania has made since its starting point, this is a development which cannot satisfy us.

Moreover, we have to face another great challenge: all the countries of South-East Europe, referring to part of the countries grouped in the largest Chinese initiative 16 + 1, are countries with small economies.

For example, Albania has around 3.2 million inhabitants and can be compared to one of the suburbs of Beijing. Also, the entire area of ​​the Western Balkans has a relatively smaller population than that of Beijing, which means that our countries need more interconnection, primarily human and secondly economic, which translates to important projects in the field of infrastructure.

Thus, the Chinese initiative 16 + 1, despite encompassing a larger geographical area that starts with Baltic countries, then with those of Central Europe and goes down to countries of South-East Europe, is a golden opportunity in this regard as well as an instrument which favors more interconnected economies in the region, where each of our countries can offer comparative advantages in a wider regional area.

In the framework of a very important process in which Western Balkan countries are engaged, also known as the Berlin Process, an initiative of Chancellor Merkel to group together 6 Western Balkan countries, we have agreed on an interconnected map of our region, and today, it is clear to us how it will look and be in 2020 or 2030 in terms of interconnectivity.

Here, I refer precisely to the main infrastructure corridors that will link ports and airports and the main sites of economy in Western Balkan countries.

For us, as Albania, one of the most important projects is the completion of the Adriatic-Ionian highway, or otherwise called the “Blue Corridor” which would give an extremely important dimension to the Mediterranean tourism ring, connecting Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania and Greece to each other, offering this ring to European tourists as well as tourists who visit our area from China and other Asian countries.

On the other hand, this project will have a positive impact for the interconnection of European Union member countries, given that Slovenia on one hand and Greece on the other are already EU members.

Likewise, another important corridor linking Tirana to Skopje would create an passage to the Adriatic Sea and the port of Durres, which can be considered as an important gateway for WB countries and our neighbors, to whom geography has not granted direct access to the sea.

Equally important is the development of the railway network infrastructure. I see people in this room who know Albania and the region very well, or have served in Albania in different missions, not just diplomatic ones.

From a geographic standpoint, the geographical size of Albania is irrelevant in Chinese terms, but distances, due to lack of infrastructure, are very long, which turns these in main obstacles for doing business in our countries or group our regional economies into a single one.

In this regard, in the framework of the Berlin Process, we have predicted both the possibility and steps on how to recover the entire infrastructure in terms of railways in our region.

I mentioned these 3 projects, because they are also compliant with the expressed interest of Chinese companies to participate in tenders organized in this regard or invest in these projects, which we see as very important with regard to regional cooperation and economic development in the region.

I would like to highlight regional cooperation because as you all know, the Western Balkans comes from a difficult period, where often the neighbor is treated as enemy. We’re just in the last phase of our transformation from former enemies to neighbors, where we compete and cooperate with our neighbors on projects that have an impact on regional development.

Surely, part of the regional and economic development is the energy sector. There is high potential, especially on the Albanian part, to develop this sector and transform it into the main instrument of the country’s development, because of its natural resources and because of Albania’s potential in terms of hydro resources. In recent years we have invested thanks to the good cooperation with neighbors and finding partners at European level to build transmission networks and gradually all Western Balkan countries, including ours, are working to create an integrated energy market which will create room for foreign capital investments.

I could also dwell on developments from the legislative standpoint, both in terms of developments in the energy sector as well as developments related to the establishment of free economic zones, but rather than focus on these bureaucratic aspects, which you, business people, know better than politicians, I would like to underline one important fact: for China, the EU is the main trade partner, while for countries of our region, including Albania, the EU and EU membership is an instrument for the economic development of the country.

This means that the entire legal framework, our policies are in a process of continuous harmonization and aligning with those of the EU.

To us, the EU means access to a much larger market than the regional, and Albania can serve as a good springboard for a wider access in the EU market.

In conclusion, I would like to thank you once again for your interest, your willingness to continue the course of economic development in relations between our two countries.

I can tell you that in recent years, we have an increased presence of China in the region and an increased presence of China in Albania.

We are in the final stage of completing two extremely important agreements that can turn China into one of the main economic actors in Albania. I refer precisely to the agreement in the field of infrastructure and civil aviation and the other agreement in the hydrocarbons sector, which would somehow complete the wide range of Chinese investors’ participation in terms of mineral industry.

In this context, the role of our embassies is important. We have a large embassy in a very pleasant place in Beijing, but a small staff, who works with the utmost commitment to strengthen, as much as possible, relations between China and Albania.

Albania-China relations have deep roots in history. I myself exercise my activity in an office which was planned to be the office of the Ambassador of China in Albania, perhaps the largest building at that time in Europe, or the main antenna of China at that period in Europe.

I probably like to say these things in every meeting, because firstly I want to convince myself, my generation, who may know very little about the relationship between our two countries, but also the new Chinese generation to continue on the same path, as well as to capitalize as much as possible through concrete projects that have a tangible effect on our citizens.

When I first read about the 16 + 1 initiative, I was surprised by the wide range of issues it addressed. From issues of economic and political cooperation, to issues of culture, language, education and science, which are vital, not only to maintain but also further strengthen our relations. Therefore, I invite you to continue to work even harder in this regard.

Thank you!