Prime Minister Rama visited today the enterprise “Xherdo” Ltd in Maminas, which deals with collecting, processing and marketing of aromatic medicinal herbs.

“Xherdo” Ltd is beneficiary of the scheme “Support to 50% of the Investment” and through joint funding the company could reconstruct and build capacities for the collection, storage and processing of medicinal herbs produced and collected by local farmers.

Throughout this year, following the reconstruction and new investments, Xherdo Ltd absorbed the first American investors, KALUSTYAN, the largest company in the world for the sage processing, which gave the exclusivity for export to the US, by forming a new society for processing medical aromatic herbs with American standards: the “ALB KALUSTYAN”.

After the new investments, the production capacity and employment have increased significantly. This firm cooperates with 2500 gatherers and farmers of aromatic medical herbs, a supplying network for aromatic medicinal herbs, which is extended across Albania.

Accompanied by Minister of Agriculture Edmond Panariti and Director of the AARD Suela Popa, Prime Minister Edi Rama inspected the new technological devices provided by the financial support schemes.

Speaking to executives of the company, the Prime Minister said that the new policy for agriculture has opened a whole new chapter, thus ending forever the game of survival subsidies and corruption. “It will be an interim period until everyone receives the message of our new policy for rural areas and for the development of agriculture, livestock and rural development in general. We have ended the game of subsidies with no receipts, no account and no added value. We have opened a new chapter.”

While assuring that the government will always support the development of entrepreneurship in the countryside, the Prime Minister invited investors to be fair in their work and oppose informality and abuse. “We will support growth and strengthening of entrepreneurship in the countryside, because by supporting such investments we increase employment exponentially. 2,500 jobs are guaranteed with this investment, as it is an entire chain. But on the other hand, the message is also clear that whoever wants excise-free oil, whoever wants VAT reduction on seeds, pesticides and so on, they only need to do one thing, submit receipts. The moment they have the receipts, they receive all these.

We are totally fair in relation to the whole sector, because we keep our promises towards anyone who responds to this new chapter. It’s a big fight on all fronts with an informal and banal Albania, which passed many years stealing itself and denying support to those people who really are the vanguard, as is the case here.”

The Prime Minister assured that the support will not stop here and that financing schemes will double next year. Speaking with an entrepreneur who referred about a tax inspector who asked for a bribe indirectly, the Prime Minister urged entrepreneurs to cooperate and denounce any abuser who tries to benefit at their and farmers’ expense. “We have doubled the funding. Next year we will have doubled funding for the scheme, because we want to multiply employment in the village. As far as tax inspectors are concerned, we have changed direction 100%. There are enterprises here and everywhere, and the entrepreneur is the boss. Who knocks at your door should know how to behave. There is one thing, though: You have to help us!

You have to help us by not allowing unrelated people to our common effort to continue benefiting at your expense and at the expense of citizens. You must denounce them! In those cases we have received denouncements, abusers have left automatically. So, it is very simple.

Director of “Xherdo Ltd” explained how, with the reimbursement of 50%, he managed to apply to his business a whole modern technology and deliver a product certified according to international standards. “A record investment was made until February, 50% was reimbursed; it is a technology that has tripled exports, a technology that delivers services and for the first time the final product goes to the United States. For the first time we can start receiving ISO 22000 certificates and for the first time we can say that we are willing to bring this product to the customer in the United States and Europe and triple exports in this company” – he said.

The entrepreneur promised that he will continue to pay regularly both electricity bills and insurance for employees, thus giving a personal example for developing a fair business. “My company and I are committed to be very responsive. We pay electricity and employers insurances regularly and it is a shame if employees don’t pay insurances, because this means stealing.”

For Minister of Agriculture Panariti, the development of agricultural enterprise provides a strong impetus to the whole sector, and therefore the government is focused on supporting them. “We are focused on supporting entrepreneurship, because it develops the whole sector and all farmers. It gives a perspective to the expansion of production, but of course this initiative includes a number of factors, ranging from those who transport to those who pack.”- Minister Panariti said.

While director of AARD Suela Popa noted that these schemes have proved successful in other regions of the country. “In terms of investment schemes, which for the first time were introduced this year, there have been beneficiaries and successful schemes in all districts of Albania.”