TIRANA, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and his Czech counterpart Bohuslav Sobotka met with Czech entrepreneurs and investors at a forum here Wednesday to promote economic cooperation between the two countries.
The two prime ministers acknowledged that the current level of bilateral economic cooperation does not do justice to the opportunities and ambitions of both countries.
Thus, they are committed to injecting new impetus into the cooperation in areas of mutual benefit such as tourism, agriculture, energy and infrastructure, according to Albanian Daily News.
Rama asked the Czech investors to consider Albania as a place where they can extend their investments.
"Since January 2005, Albania has exported items worth 48.9 million euros (55.7 million U.S. dollars) to the Czech Republic, while the Czech Republic has exported goods worth 225 million euros (256.1 million U.S. dollars) to Albania. Both governments are committed to expanding the economic cooperation in other sectors as well, such as tourism, transportation, agriculture, energy and infrastructure," Rama said.
"We have wasted many years as far as bilateral relations are concerned," Sobotka said, adding that bilateral exchanges fell short compared to the two countries' market potentials.
Rama went on to point out that for several years, tourism has been a sector of great interest to the Czech. He said that increasing the number of Czech tourists is a priority for the Albanian government.
"The approval of the new law on tourism in Albania creates new spaces and great facilities for any investor who would like to get involved in our journey towards building a modern sector of tourism services," Rama said, noting that a cooperation agreement in the tourism field would be a key element in deepening relations between the two countries.
