The strategy for development of Tirana municipality was unveiled during an expanded meeting with Tirana citizens on Monday to take stock of the progress made to date as part of the ongoing development plans and policies to transform the capital and identify future perspectives.

Prime Minister Edi Rama addressed the meeting that took place at Tirana’s Olympic Park:

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Thank you very much for providing me the opportunity to address this so well organized and structured event and all these participants!

I will cut my speech short and just add some few words exactly on where the presentations ended, namely the living standards of the households, individuals and the prospects for young people upon high school or university graduation as we all very well know have one eye outside Albania.

This is the challenge of challenges, which exceeds the strength and capabilities of a part, be it the overall state organization, the government and the society; this is a challenge that none of these parts, including the government, would be able to cope with on their own. This is the most critical moment and all parties must come together.

We are now going through a stage when we should courageously and persistently increase wages constantly. We are now living through a phase when we should consider this year and the few coming years as the critical time available to us so that we can bridge the gap that could become unbridgeable if we fail to act now.

This is easier said than done, and even the hardest of all. On the other hand, it is not utterly impossible to do more step by step and aim that our people in our country do not feel bad, unrecognized, challenged day and night by toil gone unrewarded and the stress of temptation to leave the country.

Private enterprises should no longer continue paying a part of the total monthly wages of their employees via the banking system and a part of the sum being handed over in cash. Private enterprises can no longer keep underpaying their employees compared to their productivity and our entrepreneurs can no longer keep doing everything, even beyond everything they need for themselves, their families and fail to do everything for their employees, because what has started to being felt now is just the last wakeup call about the shortage of human resources.

What was a problem until recently now risks becoming a degenerative illness. The problem is that there were jobs but no tradesmen, today risks being that there is a shortage of workforce, even more so when the world, following the example of Germany, is dealing with a crisis precisely for the workforce. Imagine what pressure Albania could be under in this period of time, so we all need to run more.

We have done whatever we could, yet we have failed in doing what we wish to do and therefore time is high to do the utmost as a governing majority, while business must do everything it can today, to raise wages uniformly. We took the first step, which was a step that we could not foresee before, beyond our electoral program for the minimum wage.

We should do whatever it takes to formalize and try to standardize the wage levels that have been increased recently much higher than previously over the years in the private sector and the labour sector should be formalized and uniformed so that the pay hike is not a sporadic initiative undertaken by an entrepreneur or some entrepreneurs in desperate need for workers due shortage of workforce, but the pay rise be the outcome of a common approach, a national approach because this is an extremely delicate moment.

All of these presentations and the projects we already saw here – which are now a reality that we are familiar with- risk becoming a thing of the past and I am not exaggerating it at all. All of these achievements risk becoming a thing of the past if we fail to build up a common spirit between the public and the private sector. We took the first step which was a step we could not even forecast.

The minimum wage set in the electoral programs of all political parties was estimated to be increased to 38,000 lek by 2025.

We have already decided for the minimum wage hike to 40,000 lek by end of April and not only that, but we have also decided that all the companies operating in the manufacturing sector and face troubles with the contracts they have already signed and are surprisingly affected by this pay rise, the government has decided to cover all the social and health insurance contribution of the employees who earn a minimum wage in this sector.  

On the other hand, we have forwarded to parliament a new bill on the personal income and in the next few weeks parliament will endorse the decision to lift personal income tax on monthly wages up 500,000 lek, meaning that employees would be able to send more money to the family coffer thanks to this move.

We have also already announced the decision about a 50,000 lek pay increase for general practitioners. This is just an initial step as work is underway for a significant pay rise for employees in key sectors, starting with IT specialists and professionals involved in strengthening digital capacities and the country’s cyber defense, which is a top priority given that cyber attacks are the newest trend of the war among the states and between the states and the international organized crime. But how are we supposedly be able to ensure protection and the country’s defense, how are we supposedly be able to have our systems protected and how are we supposedly be capable of defending the incredible achievement of transiting all the public services from paper work to totally digital solutions if we are not to build the best capacities in terms of skills and knowhow in this field?

What should we do? We should offer higher pays to all these skilled individuals. But this is valid not only for the individuals with digital skills, but also for agronomists,  given that we need and we should should do utmost efforts to further develop agriculture, boost agricultural production and exports, at a time when the country’s agriculture is growing exponentially, and at a time when tourism sector is also growing like nowhere else in our region.

Of course, the ultimate goal is not that we create two categories, with the first category being a smaller one that receives European-like wages due to their skills and competence, and another category of those who cover all other jobs, but are much lower paid. We want to bring all this into a state wage pyramid, which is classic, but for the second to happen we need to strengthen the first so that, by bringing together on the one hand people with skills in particular trades, on the other hand the private sector and on the other hand all the necessary investments and all the necessary support in the priority sectors.

Thank you very much everyone!