The city of Berat today hosted a special meeting focused on Albania’s path and challenges toward European Union integration by 2030, with particular emphasis on the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector.
With the participation of Prime Minister Edi Rama, cabinet ministers, general directors of state agencies, as well as key representatives from the technology, innovation, and startup sectors from both Albania and the diaspora, the discussion centered on their experiences and expectations for the future. The need for supportive policies, access to international markets, and sustainable investment in human capital and digital infrastructure was strongly emphasized.
The meeting aimed to create a joint platform of cooperation between the government and strategic stakeholders in the ICT industry, to co-develop the vision and development policies for the 2025–2030 period.
The ICT sector in Albania is steadily consolidating as a key factor in positioning the country within global value chains, with Albanian companies now offering advanced products and services in developed markets such as the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
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Prime Minister Edi Rama: We are truly grateful for your availability and engagement.
Considering that all of you together have created a highly encouraging ecosystem with tremendous potential, and on the other hand, being fully convinced that no matter how much we try to understand and learn how to perceive, approach, and support this new world, it is impossible for us to fully rise to the level of this potential unless we manage to build a communication bridge with your community and strive to learn and understand as much as possible from the inside about your daily reality and the challenges you face.
Therefore, what I have asked the Minister of Entrepreneurship to do is precisely this: to invite several of you, and of course, to include several of us as well, so that we can have a day like today, where we can comprehensively address the issues of this new world that has emerged in our country.
We must talk about human capital and skills development, about digital transformation and e-government, about all sectoral segments and, naturally, our competitive positioning. We must discuss incentives and sectoral financing, international integration, market access, and export readiness.
On the other hand, we have begun trying to understand how we can become direct partners with you, direct partners in function of the interests we seek to protect and embody for the benefit of improving the quality of governance but also partners in terms of financing your initiatives.
Naturally, when I say this, I am not referring only to funding from the state budget, but also to the creation of other instruments aimed at supporting and financing such initiatives.
I have observed with great admiration that some of you are closely connected to the market and to key players in the international arena. This means you are engaged in work and products that, if they are valuable and serve the needs of public administration outside of Albania, there is no reason they cannot serve the same purpose within Albania.
In this regard, we need practically everything. And because we do not yet fully understand the sector from within, we often refer only to what we see through the global showcase of the industry. Nevertheless, we have every reason to believe that, together, we can commit to co-developing dedicated products—solutions that may not yet exist, but that can be created collaboratively.
What I would sincerely ask of you is to be completely open. You have the full freedom to say what you think and believe, because you are under no obligation to us. In fact, not only are you independent from us, but you also have access to tools that could potentially cause us damage, should you wish to retaliate for any inappropriate communication on our part.
So please, I truly encourage you to exercise the fullest freedom in this dialogue, because it is in our interest to understand exactly what we can do better and what we can do more from your perspective, which reflects a different level of interests and needs. And of course, feel free to voice any concerns, reservations, or issues you may have regarding any part of the government or institutions that intersect with your work.
By the end of this day, I hope that we, as representatives of the government, will leave here more informed than when we arrived, and more motivated to act. That is the purpose.
One last point—we’ve previously discussed this with some of you: I believe it is worth establishing a council, an assembly, a space, a forum where we can come together at least three times a year to discuss current issues, developments—positive or negative—from the previous quarter. Naturally, this would be contingent on your agreement.
On the other hand, I would kindly ask you to feel entirely free to suggest if you believe someone who should be present here is missing, and how we can make this forum even more vibrant—by setting specific topics or even recommending specific guests. I believe our objective is quite simple: to place the government at your disposal.
That means making ourselves available within the scope of the possibilities we have, and available in the sense of being a “test bench” for you, because we have discussed with some of you, and we are well aware that one of the key elements today, if not the key element for productive work and the development of strong products, is data.
And if we genuinely want to make significant progress by continuously expanding our possibilities through artificial intelligence, then we must establish an interactive framework in which you have access to as much data as possible.
For example, with one of you here, we reviewed an excellent project developed for an international client, a parking management product. Now, if such a product is being developed here in Albania for use in the United States, that is fantastic. But at the same time, it is highly meaningful because it suggests that this product could also be useful for us.
What I learned from that presentation is that the product depends on data, and that data varies from context to context. Therefore, working with data is essential. Your access to data for specific products is crucial, and in this regard, you should know that we are fully available, especially when it comes to anything you consider reasonable or necessary.
You have already done a lot. We have tried to do a lot. I don’t believe we’ve done as much as we could. We are now in a position where everything is possible, but for that to happen, we need your help. Otherwise, despite our best intentions, we won’t know what to do unless we hear directly from you. We shouldn’t waste time or pursue outdated or redundant efforts when we can focus on solutions that have already been proven to work right here.
Thank you very much!
