The Government of Albania through the Ministry of Finance and Economy seeks Additional Funding (AF) from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the Bank) to support the scale up for the current Project for Integrated Urban and Tourism Development (PIUTD) to finance integrated urban and tourism development and to expand the tourism market and product development in new locations in the south Albania. The scale-up investments will be focused on Ksamil and Orikum, both of which are connected to the municipalities participating in the parent Project. The AF has necessitated updating the ESMF report to cover the expanded scope.

The AF will be used to support scale-up of investments on urban upgrading and infrastructure improvement into two new locations in the south of Albania, namely Ksamil and Orikum, which are closely connected to the municipalities and tourism sites supported by the parent Project. The indicative additional investments in these municipalities will fit the current scope of Component 1 under the parent Project and are similar to the ongoing investments under Component 1 of the Project, including a combination of upgrading of vehicular, pedestrian and multimodal accesses to the city and tourism attractions, strengthening of pedestrian connections and trails systems, integrated street upgrading, upgrading of recreational areas/parks and adaptive reuse of selected structures.

The AF will also be used to support municipalities to adapt to changing market conditions (related to COVID-19) in both the promotion (more targeted) and presentation (considerations of social and physical distancing, personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements, contactless entry and exit to tourist sites, etc. ) of tourism experiences. Ksamil and Orikum, the two new locations, are closely connected to the municipalities supported by the parent project. The indicative additional activities in these municipalities will fit the current scope of Component 3 under the parent Project and are similar to the ongoing investments under Component 3, including development of new tourism products, adding value to existing products, strengthening tourism value chains, adapting to COVID-19 protocols, and targeting and connecting products to markets.

AF consists of:

  1. Improved urban landscape through the implementation of urban regeneration activities in primary and specialized urban centers:
  2. Improved quality of municipal infrastructure and services (i.e. increased hours per day of piped water delivery, improved sidewalks-street lighting and increased access to all-season roads);
  3. Improved quality of supporting infrastructure in selected touristic sites;
  4. Increased number of tourists visiting selected primary and specialized centers, increased levels of private sector investment in goods and service providers in an around those primary and specialized centers, increased expenditure and length of stay by visitors;
  5. Increased capacity of municipality, tourism agencies and key government institutions to plan, manage and promote growth and investment in tourism related services.

 

The AF has necessitated the updating of Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) and also the Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) to cover the expanded scope of PIUTD Project.

Download Documents:

PIUTD_Revised RPF submitted for Bank's review_revised

 

Environmental and Social Management Framework