The Slovenia Times

Slovenian, Albanian FMs Want to Boost Business Cooperation

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The ministers told the press after the meeting that energy, infrastructure and tourism were the fields with the biggest potential.

 

The Albanian minister said he was happy that his working visit coincided with a session of the joint commission for bilateral economic cooperation, which was also attended by Erjavec and Bushati.

Erjavec added that today's visit meant that Slovenian-Albanian relations were getting stronger, expressing hope that the joint commission would get together next year in the Albanian capital of Tirana to review the progress made in bilateral economic cooperation.

Trade between Slovenia and Albania is currently rather modest, with Albania taking 61st place among Slovenia's trade partners in terms of the volume of traded goods, which last year stood at EUR 36m.

The foreign ministers also discussed Albania's EU accession efforts, primarily in the light of the awarding of the candidate country status to Albania, expected this month.

Erjavec, who has recently co-signed a statement by a group of EU foreign ministers supporting Albania's candidate status, reiterated Slovenia's belief that the country has fulfilled the conditions and that it should be granted the status this month.

Bushati thanked Slovenia for its support in the process of Albania's accession to NATO and the EU. Albania applied for EU membership in April 2009, the same month when it officially became a NATO member together with Croatia.

Erjavec is happy that Albania acts as a factor of stability in the region, congratulating the country on the presidency of the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative. The initiative is expected to result in numerous joint projects, especially once an Adriatic-Ionian microregion is established.

Minister Bushati also met parliamentary Speaker Janko Veber, who assessed that there are still numerous opportunities to deepen bilateral cooperation both at the political and economic level, according to a press release from the National Assembly.

Veber said that Slovenia will continue to support Albania and other Western Balkan countries on their way towards EU accession, calling for the awarding of the candidate country status for Albania as soon as possible.

The pair agreed that the European perspective is the best and key guarantee for long-term stability and peace in the region.

Veber and Bushati also called for development cooperation between the two countries through various projects, one of the opportunities being the cooperation between the countries of the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative.
 

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