The Prime Minister Edi Rama’s tour to the country’s southern city of Gjirokaster went on with a meeting at the newly-rebuilt theatre building in the museum city, where the bulk of work and projects implemented by local government is extremely promising in the effort to transform “the stone city” into a most sought-after destination to be explored by both local and foreign visitors.

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Thank you very much for your hospitality.

I am very happy to be here in this environment emitting really positive energies, desire, passion and ambition to do more and expand space of human and social activity outside your home and workplace door.

When we used to visit Gjirokaster at the time I already mentioned, but also five or six years ago, when the fresh drive of work and projects had yet to start, because we were still at a design phase and initial efforts to transform the city, one has to stand the ugly view of a parking space at the city’s Çerçiz Square, and only two or three hotel facilities were operational in addition to the old so-called tourism hotel in the city. Five or six years ago, the total number of tourists visiting the city was estimated at 7000-8000 a year, whereas the number of tourists is estimated at over 150,000 until September this year only.

It is a tremendous yet insufficient change compared to the city’s potential, but a sufficient one to show and make us realize the treasury trove of this community and how much can further be done with this immense wealth and how many local boys and girls can build their future exactly here.

We have set a financial shield, a very costly and expensive one, of course by using the revenue from our common state coffers, in a bid to prevent the war-triggered inflation from completely swallowing, primarily psychologically, and then economically, whole families that lack sufficient income. We should approve higher salary hikes and we will do whatever it takes to deliver on this pledge, but we can’t approve such an increase so that we wouldn’t be able to pay them, because it is just like a family that cannot consume more than what they can offer.

We indexed pensions twice to around 10 percent this year due to the rising inflation rate. In the meantime, we are preparing a year-end bonus for the retirees. Regardless of the war, retired people will definitely receive the traditional year-end bonus and it will be part of other measures to help them cope with the situation. In the meantime, we are drafting the next year’s state budget, projected to be almost twice higher than the 2013 state budget. This is for everyone to learn, including the opposition and a supposedly union of the university lecturers, headed by a former intelligence service member, calling for another pay rise, although not only have their salaries increased, but the increase is higher than the salaries of everyone else, as a part of their salaries has been increased by the government and the rest has been increased under the university autonomy law, although many of them see autonomy only as freedom, and not as a responsibility. Autonomy means, first and foremost, responsibility and those showing up there in a protest, should clearly know that no further salary increase will be approved for them, because the next government’s pay rise decision will be made  for the firefighters, the retired people, teachers and nurses, doctors, the police officers and the servicemen. As far as they are concerned, my message is a very simple one: You are not like retirees, you are not like servicemen, you are not like police workers, and you are not like teachers, doctors and nurses that receive a fixed salary or payment, because you enjoy autonomy. In other words, you receive a salary granted by the government, as well as additional income through projects, research projects by making the university part of the market, and by taking advantage of the EU-funded projects and so on and so forth.

We are committed to press ahead with the planned fiscal amnesty. This is not to defy anyone. I understand them very well as they are used to cutting things short. Did you see how the Council of Europe had cut things short?

An agritourism network is now in place and it represents the basis for a fantastic development and I  used to tell everyone that he who would embark on an agritourism investment project would earn twice as much as he would earn while working abroad. This is the case with them now.

Prior to this meeting, we conversed with tourism and agritourism operators and a young man, Marsel, who had returned back home after working for some years abroad, and he admitted this fact himself. Why one should pay 20,000 GBR pound to cross the Channel and work as an ordinary worker in London? Of course, I do understand the urge of everyone to earn money, but you shouldn’t say it is not worth working here.

I would again invite and urge everyone owning an inherited plot of land, an old family home to go back there, even to the most remote village in the country, and invest and transform such properties and they would see for themselves how many visitors they would attract. Only 6000 tourists used to visit Gjirokaster before we launched the Urban Renaissance programme,  while around 150,000 people visited the city this year alone.

I am pretty sure that the number of tourists visiting Gjirokaster will jump to over 400,000 or even 500,000 within this decade.

We will increase the minimum monthly wage again, as we already did twice this year only. But tourism enterprises should also increase salaries of their employees, because if they decide to leave, these enterprises will then see their income decrease significantly. For your businesses to grow, you should also grow and expand human resources.