TIRANA, Oct 1 /ATA/ – Albania’s Agricultural and Rural Development Agency (ARDA) and Turkish Agriculture and Rural Development Agency (TKDK) signed Tuesday a cooperation protocol aimed at boosting cooperation in terms of the European Union’s Pre-Accession Assistance-Rural Development Program (IPARD) implementation and rural development between the two countries.
The protocol was signed by ARDA Director General Frida Krifca and the head of Turkey’s IPARD Paying Agency Hakan Kalender during a ceremony in Ankara.
The agreement is designed to develop a cooperation strategy between the two agencies, provide for the experience exchange and expert training programs in order to ensure effectiveness in absorbing EU funds and high performance in EU programs implementation.
Turkish Paying Agency (TKDK) was accredited in 2011 for the IPARD program management and implementation. TKDK is one of the most successful program implementers, accomplishing high results in terms of the number of funded projects.
The cooperation between the two agencies will focus on capacity development, placing high priority to the economic impact and agricultural products diversity, as well as innovations in agriculture and rural development.
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