Bukuroshe Sinanaj is a young woman who runs her own business. Her business is now consolidated, but it wasn’t so in the beginning. Bukuroshe’s bold idea supported by the government’s fund for the start-ups, transformed her simple fashion atelier into “Recycle Jeans”, and enterprise that has three employees, among whom an image advisor, as well as many external collaborators. The new enterprise uses old jeans as raw materials and transforms them with fantasy in many other products.
Prime Minister Edi Rama visited Bukuroshe’s enterprise accompanied by the Minister of Economy Milva Ekonomi. Bukuroshe told the Prime Minister about her ambition to expand her business in the future. The young entrepreneur explained that currently her products are doing very well in the market as demands have increased significantly.
“We’re doing pretty well in terms of manufacturing and sales. Right now we’ve received an order of approximately 400 bags”, she said. She also told how her idea became reality thanks to her will to do something different. “I came up with this idea because, like every young people who wears jeans a lot, I didn’t want to throw them away. I had too many pairs of jeans. At the same time, in addition to giving jeans a new life, I thought it would be also eco-friendly. We started manufacturing bags, and then the whole thing evolved. People may want different things. This is something very creative.”
The Prime Minister found Bukoroshe’s idea very interesting, and said that bold ideas of young people who want to live by honest work and thanks to their will, will always have the support of the government. “There are some other 50 small enterprises that have started their business just like you, with the fund we’ve made available for the start-ups in order to encourage young people and tell them that it is not money that brings the ideas, but rather ideas bring money. Those who have ideas will be by all means successful people who will make money thanks to their hard work and by implementing their ideas. There are many creative young people in Albania, and we will absolutely support them even more. Although we have done a lot in this regard, what remains to be done is even more. It’s important to show others concrete examples.”
The young entrepreneur said that the support she received has been a great help to expand her business. “The first funds are very important. They’re the trampoline to go further. The initiative of the government’s fund is also very important.”
The removal of tax on small business is also another important stimulus which, the Prime Minister said, creates a more favourable climate for those who want to be self-employed. “You could start this business after we removed the tax. So, you’re tax-free. You just pay the local taxes and the social and health insurances. Therefore, you’re very relaxed in this regard. In Albania there are approximately 50 thousand new businesses registered compared to 2013. Most of them are small businesses that have benefited from the tax removal. This is a much favourable situation for those who want to be self-employed, as self-employment is the first step to give everybody a chance”.
