Chinese state company offers to complete Arbri road

TIRANA, July 22 – The China State Construction Engineering Corp. has offered to complete the remaining section of the Arbri road linking Tirana to the northeastern region of Dibra and neighbouring Macedonia. Commenting on his Facebook profile after meeting a senior delegation of China’s Communist Party who visited Tirana, outgoing Prime Minister Sali Berisha said China’s CSCEC had made an offer to complete the remaining 27 km of the Arbri road including the Qaf Murriz tunnel and the Ura e Vashes bridge.
“The company will make the full or partial financing of the road’s construction under a loan by the Chinese government. Another option is that the Albanian government can co-finance the project with Euro 70 million. The bid is in every aspect very favourable. It does not increase the public debt. An international tender will soon be launched based on the unsolicited offer,” said Berisha, describing the Arbri road as the second most important hub after the Highway of Nation linking Albania to Macedonia.
“The Arbri road is the second Highway of Nation. With the construction of the Murriz tunnel, the distance between Skopje and Tirana is cut by 103 km whereas the distance between Peshkopia, Bulqiza and Tirana is cut to 60 minutes and 30 minutes respectively,” added Berisha.
The comments came after a senior delegation of China’s Communist Party visited Albania last week, meeting some of the country’s top officials and think tanks in a visit that aimed to strengthen diplomatic and economic relations rooted in a long tradition of friendship between the two nations. The foreign affairs delegation headed by Tian Yongxiang paid its first visit in Albania at the premises of the Albanian Institute for International Studies (AIIS), where they were informed on AIIS’ research on security, democracy, regional cooperation and Euro-Atlantic integration.
“Dibra is one of the most underdeveloped regions in Albania. The Arb쳩 Road will connect Dibra with the rest of the country giving a much needed boost to the local economy. The road will also become a new vital route between Tirana and Macedonia thus improving considerably the infrastructure in this part of the Balkans,” says Professor Gezim Alpion of the Birmingham University who has initiated an online petition on the completion of the road.