A final deal was signed today on the Durres Yacht & Marina project, the largest investment to date in the country’s history worth around two billion euros and one of the most important tourism development project designed to completely transform Durres on Albania’s Adriatic coast, turning it into a major tourist destination in the Mediterranean with a with an incredible impact not only on the development of the coastal city, but also on the economy of the country and the whole region.
The colossal project will cover an area of approximately 450 hectares and is expected to create around 12,000 new jobs during the construction phase and the long-awaited agreement is the pinnacle of a long path of voluminous work both in technical and legal terms with a big strategic investor with an internationally renowned reputation.
The groundbreaking transformational project that took more than two years of negotiations, planning and design by internationally acclaimed architects, engineers, public realm consultants and artists.
The investment project, the first of its kind in terms of economic development importance, but also in terms of the state’s participation as a co-developer through a correct Public-Private Partnership contract, envisages the creation of a joint company, with the Albanian state being a shareholder owning 33% of the project and being entitled to all the benefits of a shareholder in terms of revenues and profits, without committing any financial contributions to the project’s development.
“Durres Yacht & Marina project will enter the Albanian mainstream economy as a locomotive set to deliver an incredible impact on the pace of the country’s economic development,” Prime Minister Edi Rama said in his remarks during the signing ceremony of the agreement between the government of Albania and the Eagle Hills Real Estate Development, represented by Mohamed Alabar.
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Prime Minister Rama’s remarks at the signing ceremony of the agreement on development of Durrës Yacht & Marina project:
Now it is time to kick off the groundwork and clear the way to this transformation that was unimaginable just a few years ago. This project has been through a very long and tough process, with many technical and legal tricks and with the deal being signed today, this process is now over and it gives way to another process that of launching the construction site and opening a new front of employment. And I would like to very briefly focus on this aspect, because a lot has been said and talked about other aspects of the project. Undoubtedly, Durres Yacht & Marina project enters the Albanian economy as a locomotive that will definitely deliver an incredible impact on the pace of the country’s economic development, but Durres Marina will also emerge as a strong competitor in a market that is much larger and broader than the Albanian domestic market, namely the international tourism market, a competitor that will provide not only services of undisputable quality, but will also deliver on more quality employment and an array of high-paying job positions for many young people, who will have no reason of whatsoever -if they really want to work – to see their future abroad. The Durrës Yacht and Marina project will convince many to return back home, and I mean not only Durres residents, but also citizens from other countries, who will come to work in Albania, because given the investment’s nature and its ambition, I already noted that it is a position among the main competitors in the Mediterranean in the realm of tourism that is an amazing world both in terms of supply and demand, as well as in terms of the infinite diversity of stakeholders and it is precisely for this ambition, Durrës, Marina should deliver and turn all these into a reality that we only know today from the logical conclusions of an investment, which is undoubtedly not only the largest to date in our country, but also perhaps the largest in the history of the region as direct foreign investment.
Little has been said about the transformation of the entire coastline that is currently extremely polluted due to the garbage and waste dumped and released by ships right close to Albania’s largest beach over the decades, while this investment project will totally transform the area’s environmental indicators. This is one of the worst polluted areas right at the heart of the country’s biggest tourist city and the project will tackle this long-standing problem. The project will also provide new solutions to the electricity supply, energy efficiency to guarantee green energy through solar power and guarantee at the same time cheap electricity for all of those who will buy apartments here, as well as for whole hotel and accommodation costs. This is an investment that will be primarily enjoyed by the Albanian citizens, not only in terms of its impact, but also in terms of what it will offer domestically and internally, because it is clearly the Albanian citizens the most interested ones to become part of this new heart of the city of Durres, it is Albanians who will benefit most from this investment by having a lot more things and services available to them and it is Albanians who will definitely take pride more than anyone else for this new flag of change and transformation that is about to be raised right across the Mediterranean Ring.
I would like to thank our team for performing fantastically in a very difficult task and reach the deal with a company that is a major player in the global economy and an entrepreneur like our friend Mohamed Alabar, who is renowned world-wide for what he has achieved and that has capacities to employ whole teams of best lawyers both in Albania and all over the world.
And given that I am also a parliament member representing Durres constituency, I am very glad that together with Mayor Ani we strongly support this project and I am looking forward to the day when Ani, I and Belinda, and everyone else will see this dream coming true and we will then be able to tell our children that it was us when the first line of this design was drawn to end up in the blueprint of a project that – as I already said – is a new locomotive for Albania’s social and economic development, but most importantly it will give Albania another reason for its national pride!
