Croatian and Albanian presidents attend the Forum.
The Adriatic-Ionic gas pipeline and motorway were the two most frequently mentioned projects for possible cooperation between Croatia and Albania at the Business Forum held on Wednesday at the Croatian Chamber of Economy, which was attended by Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and Albanian President Bujar Nishani, reports tportal.hr on May 11, 2016.
“Stronger economic cooperation and new infrastructure projects, such as the Adriatic-Ionian gas pipeline and the Adriatic-Ionian motorway, are a guarantee of stability, security and economic development of not only these two countries, but also of wider Southeast Europe. With these projects, Croatia and Albania can significantly contribute to energy and transportation connections within Europe”, said Grabar-Kitarović.
She added that the construction of the Adriatic-Ionian gas pipeline can provide permanent and adequate supply of gas markets in Croatia and neighboring countries and strengthen the gas market and the position of both countries on the political and the energy map of Europe. “The construction of the Adriatic-Ionian motorway will create prerequisites for further development of the economies of both countries, but also of trade relations in Southeast Europe”, said the President.
Albanian President Nishani said that this was one of his most important visits abroad, since it reflected excellent relations between the two peoples and the two countries, and the common Euro-Atlantic values shared by the two countries. Also, he continued, the purpose of this visit was to encourage relations in all areas of interest. However, he stressed, economic relations lag behind excellent bilateral political relations and there is a lot of room for improvement, especially in the fields of transportation, energy infrastructure, tourism, agriculture and industry.
Trade exchange between Croatia and Albania last year amounted to just over 70 million euros and this figure clearly shows that existing resources are not being sufficiently utilized. Albania used to be the most isolated and the least developed country in Europe, but today the situation is significantly different. The country is dedicated to European integration, and has the support of Croatia, which is a model for all the countries of Southeast Europe, said Nishani.
