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The Prime Minister rejected criticism of the project in Zvërnec and stated that foreign investors do not come to Albania to benefit from cheap labor…
During the National Conference on Vocational Education and Training, Prime Minister Edi Rama addressed the open debate about the planned investment in Zvërnec, responding to objections related to the project's impact on the environment and the use of foreign labor.
According to him, it is wrong to claim that well-known international tourism companies choose Albania to build luxury resorts with the aim of exploiting low-wage workers.
"The idea that foreign investors come to Albania to build resorts that are for the very rich and for workers from Pakistan, Bangladesh or the Philippines, because they want to pay them little, is an idea that has no connection with reality. It is a big mistake to speak in this way and it is a big lie to think like this," said Rama.
The Prime Minister argued that the development of tourism in Albania has gone through different phases and brought as an example the transformation of the coast over the years.
" If we look at the Albanian coast today, it has begun to develop in Golem. Today it is unimaginable that someone, any local entrepreneur, would appear at the doors of the authorities and propose that kind of development. Because it is an unacceptable development, but linked to a time when opportunities were limited, when knowledge was limited and when purchasing power was limited ," he said.
Speaking about the sector's performance, Rama said that standards have gradually improved, while costs and prices have increased.
" Despite the problems that the development of construction in the field of tourism has had, things have been improving. The cost of construction has been increasing, but also the price. Today, I say this with full responsibility, no matter how much it means to the contrary, today the main problem of the tourism industry is not 'how much to pay', the question is where to find the relevant employees who also have the skill to do that job properly ", declared the Prime Minister.
He also rejected claims that wages in the Albanian tourism sector remain lower than in neighboring countries.
" If someone finds me a place on the Albanian coast, talking about investments and hospitality, where the salary is lower than in Greece, then I will be forced to reconsider this opinion. There is no place on the Albanian coast where, according to the levels, the salary is lower than in Greece, than in Croatia, there is none ," said Rama.
Next, he referred to the debate about foreign workers in the tourism sector.
" What is the problem? The problem is that those who incite racism against foreign workers and those who think that foreign workers come here as slaves, they don't want to work and receive a salary like in Greece or Croatia. Or they are not in that field at all. They work on Instagram and give interviews about how their modest life costs 20 thousand euros a month ," he said.
Rama also stated that there is no evidence that international investments in tourism have damaged nature, responding to demands and protests against the project in Zvërnec.
The Prime Minister argued that increasing quality in tourism is directly related to improving revenues in the sector.
" The higher the quality of the tourism system, the higher the salaries will be. The higher the consumption of those who come to spend in that system, the higher the income for the system," said Rama.
Te kemi mbeshtetur si cun Tirone me kulture e edukate, por na dole pallosh pras Kashari. Ti tani je jo vetem per popullin e Tiranes por per te gjithe popullin Shqiptar me qelbesire se ai qe te rrahu e nxiu turinjte dikur.