Albanian government to invest 1.2 billion Euro in road and ports

TIRANA, Dec. 1 – Transport Minister Lulzim Basha presented in Brussels his government priority projects in infrastructure until 2011 at a meeting of the transport ministers of the Balkan countries held in Brussels, Belgium. Basha presented the government’s three-year plan for investment which was in total 1.2 billion euro for the road rehabilitation and the two main ports in the country. Albania expects that 45 percent of the funding to come from the international community like the EBRD and EIB among others. Basha said that his government priorities were the road axis of Durres – Kukes – Morine, Shkoder – Hani i Hotit, Lushnje – Fier – Vlore, and Gjirokaster – Tepelene, Levan – Tepelene, or the central one. Tirana is also interested in rehabilitating the ports of Vlore and Durres. The transport ministers signed a deal (which was before signed in 2004 in Luxembourg) for regional cooperation in the field of transports. They also held discussions on railways system and its plans for the period 2007-2011. The deal of the balkan coutnries will try to cover the technical development of the transport networks in the region and in the broders. Such an issue is a key topic that the European Commission would request from these countries that are all trying to get integrated into the European Union, according to the EC transprot commissioner Jazque Barrot. The commissioner said that the EC had yet to specify the funding for such aprojects int he region. Basha signed in Brussels another bilateral agreement with his Belgian counterpart Renaat Landuyt on the air traffic between the two countries, and also discussed on road and sea transport.