Italy supports agriculture with Euro 10 million

TIRANA, April 16 – Italy is supporting the development of Albania’s agriculture under a Euro 10 million fund as part of a debt-for-development swap deal the two neighbouring countries have signed. The Euro 10 million funds will support the Agriculture and Rural Development Agency, the cultivation of olive groves and the introduction of insurance schemes on Albania’s agriculture projects.
Italian Ambassador to Albania Massimo Gaiani described the support to agriculture, which is one of the key sectors in Albania, as helping Albania’s European integration.
Italy is Albania’s top trade partner and one of the top donors in Albania’s road to development in the past two decades.
Agriculture, a sector which employs around half of the country’s population but provides only around 20 percent of the GDP, is one of the least productive sectors in Albania’s economy. Although it has been the sector with the most stable growth in the past five global crisis year, the Albanian economy continues remaining largely dependent on agriculture imports which are around six times higher compared to exports.
Data published by the agriculture ministry show the export/import coverage ratio for agriculture was at 17.4 percent which means Albania imports 5.7 times more than it exports, creating a huge trade gap in Albania agriculture balance sheet.