Pango Invites Turkish Businessmen to Albania, stresses opportunities in tourism sector

Istanbul, 12 April 2008. The Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey sponsored a meeting on in Istanbul April 12 entitled, “Tourism Business Forum”. The forum was attended by Ertugrul Gunay, Turkish Minister of Culture & Tourism and Ylli Pango, Albanian Minister of Culture & Tourism. At the meeting, Pango called on Turkish businesspersons to invest in Albania. During his presentation, Pango noted Albania is a country experiencing a boom in tourism. Pango said one million foreign tourists visited Albania in 2007, which was a 30 percent increase over 2006. Revenues from Albanian tourism totalled some Euro 2 billion. Pango said the Albanian government is working to further boost the tourism sector. “We expect Turkish businessmen to invest in Albania”, he said.
Ibrahim Aksoy, chair of the Turkish-Albanian Business Council, said the trade volume between Turkey and Albania reached $318 million USD last year and both countries should work to boost this figure. Pango and Gunay also signed a tourism cooperation agreement between the two countries. “I am confident that Albania, which has a vast potential in tourism, has the possibility to become a new center of gravity and I would like to say that we are pleased to share our knowledge and experience in the field of tourism”, noted Gunay. (Tirana Times Staff)