On 13 March 2019 the Ambassador of Albania in Sofia H.E. Mrs. Donika Hoxha visited the Bulgarian Industrial Association and met with the President of BIA Radosvet Radev and the Director of the International Economic Relations Center Veselin Iliev.
During the meeting the possibilities for building and developing the bilateral trade and economic relations between Bulgaria and Albania were discussed.
Ambassador Hoxha said that in terms of political relations, the two countries share a common vision, which is a prerequisite for the development of good economic ties and increased investment. She said that at the beginning of the year a Bulgarian investment of EUR 50 million was made when buying Telecom Albania.
Another positive trend is the increase in the number of Bulgarian tourists in Albania, whose number has grown in the past three years, reaching 40,000 in 2018, and the growing number of Albanian tourists visiting Bulgarian winter resorts. The interest of Bulgarian tourists towards Albania is mainly due to the renovation of the coastal sites and resorts and the opportunities for mountain tourism and climbing as well as the development of alternative tourism forms such as slow food tourism. One of the barriers to business and personal visits remains the lack of a direct airline between Sofia and Tirana.
Ambassador Hoxha identified as the main priority the development of bilateral trade relations between Bulgaria and Albania in the sectors of construction, transport infrastructure, energy, tourism, etc.
According to the ambassador, the most effective way to improve the economic relations between the two countries is to know each other’s businesses and to deepen the contacts between the Bulgarian and Albanian business organizations.
Participants in the meeting expressed readiness for active cooperation and exchange of information of mutual interest.
