TIRANA, March 27 /ATA/ Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Frida Krifca, held a meeting with her Italian counterpart, Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry of the Republic of Italy, Francesco Lollobrigida, who paid a working visit to Tirana.
Strengthening the cooperation regarding Italian expertise for Albanian agriculture, increasing exports and guaranteeing markets for certified products of origin were some of the topics addressed in the bilateral meeting.
During bilateral meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Krifca emphasized that Italy in the last 30 years has been one of the most important showcases in the transfer of technology and knowhow in almost all sectors of the country’s economy, but especially in agriculture.
Krifca emphasized that Albanian agriculture is not what it was 30 years ago, nor what it was 10 years ago, while making an overview of the main developments in the sector.
“Albanian agriculture is no longer a subsistence agriculture, which produces for the family and takes the surplus to the market, and which imports 8 lek for one lek exported, as was the case a decade ago (2010). We exported a total of 242,000 tons of fruits and vegetables with a 10.3% increase from 2021, and a 27.3% increase in value from 2021. While imports recorded 3.2% increase in quantity and 2.6% in value, “she emphasized.
“Agriculture exports (together with agro-processing and fishing) over 66% of the volume of the quantity of exports and 43% of the value of the total exports. The fact is that we are an important regional exporter of fresh products already with more than 500 million dollars of exports for 2022, meeting the growth target, that of 1 billion dollars of exports in 2030. Today we have throughout the country a network of more than 400 collection points, which transport our fresh or processed products to more than 82 destinations worldwide,” Krifca said.
Regarding trade relations with Italy, Krifca pointed out that if in 2005 we imported from Italy more than 22 kg of agricultural products for 1 kg of exported products; in 2022, almost twenty years later, this ratio has dropped to 1 in 4.
Krifca also touched on the role of the Italian partners in these developments, calling it very important. She mentioned at the meeting some of the recent collaborations, pointing out that there are 20 million euros (9.5 million in grants, 10 million in loans disbursed) in the last 10 years and 2 times more forecast in the upcoming years.
As planned projects, Krifca cited the project for improving food safety standards in the production chain of typical Albanian products,
worth 3 million euros, which will help us align the regulatory framework of chapters 11 and 12 with the goal to open up the European markets for typical Albanian products, as you have done for your “Made in Italy” products.
The minister also mentioned the Blue Economy project, which is in the final stages of approval and which aims to move ahead with interventions both in the port infrastructure and in the fishing fleet to increase the security of the sector, its sustainability and minimize impact on the environment.
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