Albania and Singapore can overcome distance as an obstacle, and use the advantages that economies of both countries provide. In 2016, trade between the two countries grew significantly, but they are still far from fulfilling their potential. During his visit to Singapore, Prime Minister Edi Rama addressed the Economic Forum, which was attended by the Minister of Energy and Industry Damian Gjiknuri, the Minister of Economy Milva Ekonomi, the Governor of the Bank of Albania Gent Sejko, and a group of Albanian entrepreneurs.

“We came here with the conviction that geographical barrier cannot remain a justification any longer, and on the other hand, with the conviction that there hasn’t been a better moment to invest in Albania than this current one. During 2016, Albania was ranked 58 in the World in the “Doing Business” index, improving a record 32 places in a year.”

A new model of development, not led by consumption but driven by investments and exports, and a deeper reform agenda have created a favourable environment for investments.

“Albania is in a process of economic transition, moving from a growth model led by consumption, to a new one driven by investment and export. In the last three years, our government has undergone a series of deep reforms, attaining a sustainable growth and starting a process of public debt reduction. In the new economic model we are pursuing, the foreign investments are crucial for Albania’s continued development, as we intend to cut the deb-driven growth of the past governments.”

In the Prime Minister’s view, a focus on sources of economic growth is “the map of potential foreign investments in Albania”, by identifying areas of interest which may extend economic cooperation.

“First and foremost, energy.  Albania is a country with a very high hydropower potential, but not only. We are a country which is rich in oil onshore, and a country where the new Trans-Adriatic Pipeline is going through, and a country where we very much believe that sooner more than later gas will also be another important resource based on some data got from the last explorations onshore in the country.

Albania is very rich in minerals. We are seeing a lot of investments in the sector, and of course, based on the new prices of chrome, we are seeing a lot of potentials for further investments.

Albania is a fantastic country in terms of what offers to tourism development; it’s growing very much year after year, but let me give you only one datum from last year. We had 25% more demand than what we could offer to people wanting to reach our country, because of the need to invest a lot more in the hospitality infrastructure. So, there is a big potential there, and it’s also because of more than 120 million tourists moving from North Africa due to all the political reasons and security problems towards other destinations. And more and more, Albania is indicated by important sources of information worldwide as one of the places to be discovered.

Agriculture and agro-processing can be highly profitable also, for some very simple reasons: fertile & suitable soil, abundant water resources and optimal climatic conditions resulting in huge production potential.

Manufacturing is another area where we are seeing a lot of things happening, and we are sure that much more can be done in different levels, of course, and due to the very low taxation of the sector, and also a lot of structural incentives provided by the government.”

The Prime Minister said that Singapore is regarded an inspiring model in our path towards development. He concluded his address saying that investing in Albania is a very interesting and fruitful business.