Albania, Turkey boost economic cooperation

TIRANA, Nov. 30 – Albania and Turkey have stepped up efforts to boost economic and trade cooperation. The joint economic committee protocol was signed last Wednesday in Tirana by Turkish Family and Social Policies Minister Fatma Sahin and Albanian Ministry of Economy, Trade and Energy Nasip Naco. The signing of the deal came after both ministers attended the 11th meeting of the Turkish-Albanian Joint Economic Committee held at the Albanian Ministry of Economy, Trade and Energy.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Turkish Minister Sahin stressed that “this protocol would be the story of a new success”.
“Turkish-Albanian friendship shows itself in the cultural and other fields. Our two countries successfully survived the crisis. In the last decade, Turkey has reached both political and economic stability. Despite the global economic crisis, the Turkish economy continued to grow and unemployment rates fell. In the past several years, Albania has taken great steps for democratization and the establishment of a free market. Albania is a factor of stability in the region, Sahin said as quoted by Turkey’s World Bulletin agency.
“Albania happens to be an important trade partner for Turkey. The protocol we have signed today aims to carry our economic and commercial relations to higher levels. This protocol will be the story of a new success,” Sahin added.
Nasip Naco, on his part, said that Turkey and Albania were strategic partners and relations between the two countries remain excellent.
“Turkey has always supported Albania and the Albanians. We appreciate Turkey’s contributions to stability in the Balkans,” Naco underlined.
Turkey is the third biggest investor in Albania. More than 2,000 Turkish entrepreneurs have made investments in Albania. We believe that the protocol signed today will increase the number of Turkish entrepreneurs in Albania, Naco added.
According to the latest data by Albania’s state Institute of Statistics Turkey ranks the second major destination of Albanian exports during the first nine months of this year after Italy which has historically held the 50 share of Albanian exports for the past two decades.
Albanian exports to Turkey doubled to 10.9 billion lek in Jan- Sept. 2011 up from 5.7 billion lek during the same period last year, representing 7.4 percent of total Albanian exports.
Turkish businesses are constantly increasing their presence in Albania. Turkey’s Calik Group, which is present in Albania with fixed-line operator Albtelecom, Eagle Mobile and Banka Kombetare Tregtare (BKT Bank), is the most successful Turkish company in Albania.
Other investments include the steel plant in Elbasan which is also run by Turkey’s Kurum and the Turgut ׺al Education Company, which has also established the system of Turkish primary and high schools in Albania since 1992 and most recently the Epoka University.