Following the opening of the Chapter 5 Group at the 7th Intergovernmental Conference, Albanian agriculture entered a new phase of reforms, with a focus on chapters 11, 12 and 13, which are related to the preparation of the sector towards European Union standards.
At the event "With Farmers in Albania 2030", Prime Minister Edi Rama presented practical mechanisms for supporting farms, emphasizing the increase in direct support up to 100 million euros and the use of the Euro Agro Albania platform as a new coordination and information instrument for farmers.
According to the Prime Minister, every appropriate project will be financed, while Euro Agro Albania will serve as a guide for concrete standards, deadlines and procedures, creating an open channel of dialogue between farmers, AZHBR and financial institutions.
"With the increase in direct support that we want to bring up to 100 million euros, with the support of the Development Bank and the Bank of Albania, which has made an innovative loan available, and of course with the support of the AZHBR and the EU, we will have the opportunity to make available to the Albanian farm a fact that for no one will be a matter of money and funds, for everyone it will be a matter of the right projects."
Any project that will be appropriate and will be supported with knowledge by the applicant, there is no question that it will be financed in one way or another. Euro Agro Albania is not a new website, but it is an instrument that all of you and all those who are on the farm and work want to increase production, quality, exports, capacities and funds should take, use and turn it into one of the instruments of their work.
It is a guide for all of you, it is a source of information on standards, deadlines and concrete obligations. It is a channel of dialogue, where anyone can enter, ask questions and receive answers. It is a means of coordination that between you and us, between AZHBR, there is a continuous interaction. It is a new door open to all of you. It is a door that has always existed, that has a new approach and spirit for your disposal", said Rama.
During his speech, Rama stressed the importance of preparing for the changes brought about by EU membership, warning that products that do not meet standards will no longer be accepted on the European market. He also presented some of the concrete changes that the government is implementing, including the finalization of national farm and animal registers.
"What will we do specifically? Because they are two sides of the same coin. We will create an integrated control management system, we will finalize the national registers of farms, plots and animals. It is a work that has been started and we will finalize it. We will build the EU-accredited laboratories to the end.
Today we have a completely different level of analysis with the Institute, etc., but the entire laboratory project must be completed and we will push very hard on the field advisory services project and we will rely on the Agricultural University of Tirana. Where we believe that year after year we will have more and more skills to lead us, us as the public sector and you as the private sector ," said Rama.
Advice to entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector: It would be a disaster…
Prime Minister Rama advised farmers and entrepreneurs in the sector not to neglect investing in the knowledge and skills of their staff.
"It is not something that needs to be said because that is how the conversation wants it, but it is something that comes out as a lesson from what others have done before. Do not leave without investing in the company's mind, do not leave without investing in the company's human power, do not let a day go by without training the human power, without bringing something new, no matter how small in terms of learning, because knowledge is what, when it was lacking, brought immediate bankruptcy at the moment the EU doors opened. Simply and only put a lock and no one will accept what you produce, because you are no longer like today. Today you are an exporting farmer, who exports outside the EU. Tomorrow you will produce for the EU, just like from Lushnja for Tirana. If you are a problem for food security in Lushnja, you will be blocked in Lushnja and that is the end. It would be a disaster if the day came that Albania was a member of the EU and a single entrepreneur said, we did not know that we would face these new conditions, we did not "Were we prepared for these new conditions, or were we not informed? Our task is to inform you. Your task is to be informed. Our common task is to use this to increase the capacities that we can mutually make available to this vital and important sector," said the Prime Minister.
Rama concluded his speech by wishing a prosperous and successful new year to farmers, their families, and employees of agricultural enterprises.