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TIRANA, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) is supporting projects in Albania which aim to preserve and rehabilitate the constructed environment and urban cultural heritage, EU Ambassador Romana Vlahutin said at a meeting of the Council of Ministers of Culture of South East Europe held here Wednesday.
Vlahutin highlighted the importance of preserving the cultural heritage as a testimony of cultural identity as heritage can drive sustainable tourism and local economic growth, the EU delegation office said in a press release.
In the last financial period, the EU put around 4.5 billion euros (4.7 billion U.S. dollars) towards preserving EU heritage.
"In the countries represented today, we support common priorities that are interlinked: intercultural dialogue, regional reconciliation, tourism and cultural heritage," Vlahutin said at the conference.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said the Albanian government had embarked on a financial disciplining program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and increased the budget for culture.
He also noted that Albania had made significant progress in terms of improving the quality of tourism, but also in terms of diversifying the tourist offer.
The third ministerial conference Enhancing Culture for Sustainable Development took place in Tirana under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, which also holds the presidency of the Council of Ministers of Culture of South East Europe. Enditem
