The government support for Albania’s nascent fishing industry and its development challenges throughout 2022 was the focus of an extended meeting with entrepreneurs and employees in this sector. Prime Minister Edi Rama attended the meeting that took place at Durres fishing port, where work on the expansion of the docking capacity for fishing vessels kicked off today, a long-awaited investment for fishermen.

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I am very pleased, but also extremely convinced that there is no room for complacency, because a lot still needs to be done for this sector, which is revitalized for sure, but it has tremendous potential to exploit.

I remember the first time I was here, which was a kind of a return to the history of literature, reminding me of a very famous novel that was strongly recommended in the past as it was about the miners’ suffering and hardship under the capitalist and half feudal regime, you name it, or the ruthless and unforgiving capitalism. The novel was entitled “The Stars Look Down.” My first visit here is stuck in my mind. Back then you supplied the ships with diesel oil in Italy and this sector was about 90% informal. Not because you wanted to be informal, but because it was unlikely to go formal in the face of bureaucracy and total neglect. Back then, the entire volume of very laborious and exhausting business for the vast majority of fishermen from this entire coastline translated into a meagre value of 20-25 million euros of fish exports.

Albania’s fish exports were valued to over 130 million euros last year, but it is our ambition for much more. We are seeking to increase Albania’s agricultural exports to over one billion euros, with the value of fish and seafood exports, according to our projections, also based on the talks with you, set to hit the 200-million euros target a year and even higher.

The logistics, the fishing fleet and renovation of the fleet alone is insufficient, because we need to boost the fishing ports standards, as we are already doing here. The time has come to usher in this other stage, after it is now for sure that the port will be yours and nobody really stands a chance to grab it for other purposes, as they did in the very beginning, but you should now enhance standards. The good news is that the not too distant future will be much more beautiful than today, because all this area, as I have already told you, but we are about to finalize the project and start work, will be transformed into a tourist attraction. You just should go on with your work. A fish market will be built here with the ambition to be one of the most beautiful fish markets we have already built to date, like the one in Vlora that fully meets highest standards, but our goal is that this fish market is one of the most beautiful ones in the Mediterranean. Fish market project also includes pedestrian streets, restaurants and bars, all dedicated to the sea and your activity. The fish market and the pedestrian streets, the boulevard and entire tourist trade are all part of the new tourist port in the city of Durres.

The same goes for Vlora fishing port, a project that has been designed to meet best European standards and it is set to be part of the Triport complex, where work is in full swing on construction of Vlora’s new commercial port.

This is a very significant decade for Albania and we have been forced to deal with absolutely grave and unwished situations that we didn’t choose, but we had to deal with, starting with the earthquake that hit Durres savagely, the pandemic and now a war that hasn’t affected Albania with its bombs,  but with its inflation.

On the other hand, it is also crucial that the support for farmers is unstoppable. The government has provided massive support for farmers through the tax-free oil scheme. The oil price has increased, but what primarily matters is that the rising price doesn’t affect those in the frontline of production, hard work and services and that’s why we have so largely invested in tax-free oil for farmers and the fishing sector that has a high oil consumption rate in its activity.

A unique ceiling oil price will be set for all fishermen operating along the entire coastline and nobody would be able to change the price. The decision will significantly help fishermen and the fishing industry. The Ministry of Agriculture will set a ceiling price of oil for the fishing vessels and the decision will be made within this week.

Thank you very much!