TIRANA, Oct. 11 – The Japanese government has financially supported the rehabilitation of three schools in the northern Albanian towns of Vau i Dejes and Fierza and pledged to further assist Albania in its quest to improve the quality of education in remote areas.
The schools were reconstructed as part Japan’s Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects, which supplied a total amount of about €138,000 for the refurbishment and reconstruction of public schools in remote northern Albania areas, the Japanese embassy in Tirana said in a statement.
Makoto Ito, Japan’s first resident ambassador to Albania, expressed the Japanese government’s commitment to provide further support to Albania, unveiling near future plans of another stage of the Grant Assistance for Grass-roots Human Security Projects which will provide even more opportunities for good education.
The Government of Japan has been assisting people in need in Albania since 1998, paying a particular attention to education and financing more than 16 projects, focused on the refurbishment, rehabilitation or reconstruction of public schools, mainly in remote areas.
Japan officially opened its embassy in Tirana last July with Makoto Ito as the first resident ambassador to Albania since the two countries re-established diplomatic relations in 1981.
While Albania opened its diplomatic mission in Japan in 2004, the Japanese Embassy in Italy had handled matters related to Albania until recently.
Tirana has said it welcomes Japan’s decision to open an embassy in an effort to draw greater investment from the world’s third-largest economy.
Japan has been a major donor to Albania through its difficult transition from communism to a free-market economy. Tokyo has given millions, primarily in the rehabilitation of infrastructure and healthcare facilities. Projects have included a municipal waste-water treatment facility for Tirana and its surroundings.
