Albania and Kosovo are ready to decide on a joint customs point and the Albania’s biggest port city of Durres will become a joint customs for all goods entering from the port to Kosovo, Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Wednesday, following a government meeting organized in Kukes.
“First, we are not talking about Albania and Kosovo without customs, but we talk about a joint custom for the two countries,” Rama said, adding that the government of Albania is ready to implement an agreement. He said that the deal will be ready soon and will be presented in a joint government meeting between Albania and Kosovo to be organized in late November. “It is the right of both our states to make an agreement,” he noted.
According to PM Rama, the joint customs point is possible and facilitating for all, since it maximizes entrepreneurship and procedures by cutting time.
“We have an open discussion with Serbia and Macedonia and other countries in the field of economic and trade cooperation,” Rama said, adding that in the EU countries have complete open boundaries and move without any problems. “This is what we want to do here,” Rama noted.
The PM emphasized that the countries of the region must take all the measures to reduce waiting time in borders.
He also spoke about the construction of the Kukes airport, considering it as a strategic project not only for Albania but also for Kosovo.
He also said that the airport will boost economic development in the entire northeast Albania with an indisputable impact on the national economy and the economy of Kosovo.
The reconstruction works for the Kukes airport will start very soon in order to be operational by autumn 2019, Rama said.
The Kukes airport will mainly service flights of low-cost carriers and will be used by an annual 300,000 passengers, Rama added.
The PM added the contract for the reconstruction and maintenance of the airport is expected to be signed by late 2018 or early 2019.
New Investment Package for Kukes Region
The government has approved a new priority investment package for the region of Kukes, PM Rama said.
He said that there will be important investments in tourism, not only in Kukes but also in Tropoja, adding that next year a 5-star hotel will be constructed in the north of the country.
Rama also focused on the construction of the new Kuk�s stadium.
He said that the government has secured financing for the stadium, adding that it will be constructed according to UEFA standards. Rama stressed that the stadium is not just for sports fans, but it is for the community and the economy.
Dollar 15 mln Investment in Vlahna Mine
A Dollar 15 million fund will be invested in Vlahna mine in Kukes, the second largest mining area in the country, PM Edi Rama said after the government meeting in Kukes.
“We have completed the procedures for the Vlahna’s mining area, which is the second largest mining area in the country, and we forecast a Dollar 15 million investment for the first phase, with a generation of several hundred new job with high salaries ranging from Dollar 700 to Dollar 1,200,” Rama noted.
The Vlahna mine was first opened in 1986. The mine represents the second largest chromium reserve in Albania and one of the largest in Europe having estimated reserves of 2.56 million tonnes of ore grading 29.2% chromium metal.
