Tirana- On 24th January the city of Berat hosted the business networking activity for the presentation of the “Tourism Programme for the local economic development”, financed by European Union. European Union in Albania. The event was attended by businesses operating in the tourism sector in Berat.

In his opening remarks, the representative of the European Union Delegation in Albania, Mr. Enzo Damiani, highlighted the importance of this programme for the development of a sustainable tourism sector in four regions covered by the programme and also emphasized the very positive impact for SME-s positive development from the support and technical assistance offered to SMEs from the EBRD Advice for Small Businesses.

The mayor of Berat, Mr. Ervin Demo, presented the Municipality priorities for the development of the tourism sector in Berat (Berat Municipality) while mentioning some of the ongoing projects for the improvement of the infrastructure in the historical part of the city and also appreciated the opportunity that is being offered to SMEs to have a greater access to the advisory services with the aim to increase standards and competitiveness with local businesses and international ones.

Ms. Fabjola Mecaj Albanian Development Fund informed participants on the special attention given to this programme from the Albanian Government especially in the four regions covered by the programme: Berat, Fier, Korca and Shkodra. Also, she emphasized the crucial role of the Albanian Development Fund as the main implementing agency.

Mr. Ilir Basha from the EBRD delivered a presentation on the Programme for the Development of Tourism and Infrastructure in Albania providing detailed information on its four windows such as technical assistance with a focus in tourism, rehabilitation of the cultural and natural heritage sites, rehabilitation of municipal and transport infrastructure and EBRD financing through partner Financial Institutions for SMEs lending.

Mr Neritan Mullaj from the EBRD delivered a presentation on the Advice for Small Businesses of EBRD, financed from European Union, informing of the achievements of the programme, the impact of advisory projects in the supported SMEs and also provided steps that SMEs should follow to benefit for such assistance.