Austria: Euro 25 million for the Albanian government

TIRANA, June 5 -Ridvan Bode, Minister of Finance, and Klaus Derkowitsch, Ambassador of Austria in Tirana, have signed two agreements regarding economic co-operation between the two countries. The first agreement regulates co-operation between Albania and Austria as part of the association process of Albania to the European Union. According to the second agreement, Austria is going to provide Euro 25 million in soft loans to Albania during a two-year period.
Commenting on the agreement, Bode noted, “The agreements are paving the way for the expansion of the partnership between Albania and Austria”. Bode revealed that concrete projects financed through these loans are going to be decided during discussions between the Albanian government and the Austrian government.
Derkowitsch said that the agreements are a sign of the close cooperation between the two countries. “We aim to increase the presence of Austrian businesses in Albania and to increase the trade volume between the two countries”, Derkowitsch said.
Until now, the Austrian government has provided Euro 28 million to finance 50 different projects in the country. Most of the money has been spent on building water supply facilities, including water purification complexes and water mains. The rest was allocated to expanding Albanian tourism.