Italy: experts and entrepeneurs to migrate from Puglia to Albania

Over 100million euro. This is the amount of investments for international cooperation that Puglia has been responsible for in the last six years. In 2006 the italian region has allocated 1,2million euros of its economic balance to cooperation; a great many of these funds have financed projects in the Balkans, while the rest in Lebanon, Siria and Iraq.

With the enlargement to the east of the EU Puglia has became a more stratecig actor. Since the year 2000 Puglia has managed the european funds for the Italy-Albania Programme and those for the Mediterranean Area alongside Abruzzo, another italian region, and Greece, for a total amount of over 100million euro.

At the end of 2006 in Tirana Nichi Vendola, Puglia? president, and Sali Berisha, the Albanian PM, signed in Tirana a new commitment for cooperation to improve energy projects. “We have offered technical assistance and the willingness of our entrepeneurs to go ahead developing wind and solar energy for Albania to sell in the future” says Silvia Godelli, chief of the Puglia Office for Cooperation. “A large part of Albania lacks electricity” she goes on, “the North and the inner regions do not have street illumination and safety batteries only work for the hospitals and the airport”. Recently the President of the Puglia region announced that Bari would run for the opportunity to house the European Observatory for Immigration. “We are working with the Government of Tirana to develop the whole area, with the aim of also balancing migration flows” concludes Godelli.