TIRANA, Feb. 21 – Albania and the Czech Republic are targeting to boost their political and economic cooperation as Albania prepares to open accession talks with the EU.
The two countries are NATO allies, but current trade and investment ties remain quite modest at a time when more and more Czech tourists have been discovering Albania in the past few years.
Addressing a Czech-Albanian business forum in Tirana this week, Albanian Parliament Speaker Gramoz Ruà§i said the good political relations between the two countries also need to be reflected on stronger economic cooperation.
“This forum is real testimony to our joint desire and will to strengthen this economic cooperation, also justifying the historical and traditional friendship between our two countries and peoples,” said Ruà§i.
“For Albania, the Czech Republic is an important country and a staunch supporter for our EU membership, the same as it has supported our NATO membership,” he added
“We welcome the interest of Czech companies in the energy, petrochemistry, road and rail infrastructure, agri-machinery, agricultural technique and technology, tourism and construction as well as hotel chains,” said Ruà§i, adding that the long-awaited justice reform the Albanian government has undertaken is further guarantee to boost cooperation.
Czech Senate head Milan Stech said the Czech interest in Albania was evident from its delegation including representatives from key ministries, the Academy of Science and representatives of the Czech Association of Industry and Trade. He assured the Czech Republic supports Albania’s opening of accession talks with the EU in the second half of this year.
The head of the Czech Senate said the Czech Republic’s economic growth of 3 to 5 percent and its Europe’s lowest unemployment rate of about 2 percent could be a good opportunity for Albanian workers seeking to move abroad.
“Of course, we can participate in your country’s infrastructure development, we can cooperate in agriculture because you have high quality products. Of course, we can help by getting high quality products from you so that you can grow your economy to have it at a better stage,” Milan Stech said as quoted in a statement by the Albanian Parliament.
“Another important sector is tourism. You have the Adriatic Sea which means an opportunity for Czech tourists to spend their holidays. You have a wonderful landscape and wonderful parks and of course Czechs are very interested in coming and spending their holidays in your country,” he added.
Known for their passion for Albanian mountains and adventure tourism, the number of Czech tourists to Albania has almost doubled compared to the early 2010s. Some 14,000 Czech tourists visited Albania in 2016.
The stock of Czech Republic investment to Albania was at a mere Euro 1 million in 2017, after €308 million in Czech investment flew out of Albania in 2013 as CEZ, whose 70 percent stake is owned by the Czech government, had its Albania licence revoked, according to Albania’s central bank.
CEZ managed the Albanian distribution operator for three and a half years until it had its Albania licence revoked in January 2013 under the former Democratic Party-led government.
In mid-2014, Prime Minister Rama Socialist Party-led government agreed to pay back CEZ €95 million in annual installments until 2018, an amount slightly lower to its initial investment in the Albanian distribution system, but half of the €200 million CEZ had warned it would claim in international arbitration proceedings. The Supreme State Audit claimed the Albanian government lost about €479 million from the deal with CEZ.
Trade exchanges between Albania and the Czech Republic rose to about 7 billion lek (€53 million) in 2016, but were overwhelmingly dominated by Albanian imports from the Czech Republic, according to state statistical institute, INSTAT.
Last summer, Travel Service, the largest Czech carrier, offered regular flights during the tourist season under the SmartWings brand.
“Albania has become a very popular destination for Czech tourists during the past few years. Many Czech people also travel individually to explore not only the coastline, but also Albanian mountains,” says the Czech embassy.
The Czech government through its embassy in Tirana has been supporting several tourism development projects in Albania, including tourist trails in the Dajti Mountain and mountain rescue teams in the Valbona Valley.
The tourism industry has been one of the country’s fastest growing in the past few years, attracting more than 4 million tourists and generating about €1.5 billion, about 8.4 percent of the country’s GDP in 2016 alone.
Closed to tourists for about five decades until the early 1990s when the communist regime collapse, Albania offers a miscellaneous picture of coastal and mountain tourism and has been attracting more and more foreign tourists in the past decade being nicknamed as “A new Mediterranean love” and “Europe’s last secret.”
