Pulja-Albania, a promising perspective

The Vlora-Bari underwater aqueduct has been rumored as a project for a long time, but now the Puglia regional government and the Albanian government are seriously considering it. Our neighbors in Puglia have a lot of water supply problems and are thinking about the long-term perspective. The investment could require 4.5 billion euros, and the Puglia regional government, with an annual budget of 7.6 billion euros (almost double our state budget), seems determined to step into the sea on foot. Pugja with 4 million inhabitants is a region of Italy, located in the southern part of the Iberian Peninsula, only 60-70 km away from Vlora and Durres. We are so close! The per capita income of a chicken is 19 thousand euros per year, or about four times more than our per capita income. The region has specialized and intensive industries, including food processing and production of spare parts for vehicles in Foggia, footwear and textiles in Barletta province, and wood and furniture in the Murjia area to the west. Puglia's economy grows faster than the rest of Southern Italy. Puglia's thriving economy excels in automotive (major companies Bosch, Magneti Marelli, Magna Gertrag and Bridgestone), in mechanics (New Holland Construction, IVECO Engine, Isotta Fraschini Engine, MERMEC), in furniture (Natuzzi), food and beverages ( De Carlo, Divella, Quarta Caffé), in agriculture (Casillo Group, GC Partecipazioni) and tourism (Tur Nicolaus). We have a lot to learn and help from our good Puglia neighbors. They were the ones who welcomed us with open arms in August 1991, when we flooded them with tens of thousands on the ships "Vlora" and "Tirana". Now they are coming openly for cooperation. Next Monday, March 28, the Regional Minister of Economy of Puglia, Assistant Aleksandër Deli Noçi, comes to sign an agreement with the mayor of Tirana, for the opening of business incubators for young people in Tirana. On the occasion of the election of Tirana as the European capital of young people for this year. It will be the first brick on a long wall and fruitful cooperation. Chickens can help us a lot in agriculture. Po si? Agriculture plays a prominent economic role in Puglia. It is a mainly intensive and modern agriculture, which allows the region to be among the first in Italy for the production of many products, such as durum wheat, which is used for the production of pasta, tomatoes, grapes, almonds and olive oil. The vineyards cover 106,715 ha in Puglia, which ranks first among the Italian regions, for grape cultivation. There are about 50 to 60 million olive trees in Puglia and the region yields 40 percent of Italy's olive oil production. Chickens can help us a lot. The selection of Italy and more specifically of the Puglia region as a strategic partner for our agriculture, carries very strong reasons. First, the Puglias have rich experience in effectively organizing agriculture, terrain almost identical to ours, and obtain high yields in greenhouses. Second, they export many raw and processed agricultural products. Third, transportation costs are very limited, because we are very close. Only 60-70 km of sea separate us. Fourth, from Puglia we can provide technical assistance and supply of quality seeds for our greenhouse plants. Compensation of the difference in the price of seeds with agricultural production. Fifth, we can get technical and financial assistance from pulje's friends for setting up fruit composting plants. Sixth, we can obtain valuable technical assistance and assistance for the re-establishment of the Agricultural Institute at the Agricultural University of Kamza and the re-establishment of the High School for Agronomy in Fier. For these things, with the agriculture we are in difficulty today, for the dizzying costs of transport and agricultural raw materials in the world, assistance and cooperation with the Puglia region would be a concrete, effective and long-term solution. We have nothing to look forward to. The famous "Via Egnatia" came as an extension of the equally famous road of Roman antiquity, Via Apia, which branched off into Puglia. History must repeat itself, with a new situation and determination to cooperate.