Prime Minister Edi Rama says that the government has received an official request from the company of Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, for the construction of a tourist resort with individual villas on the island of Sazan.
In an interview on the show "Opinion", Rama defended this investment, saying that he will turn the island, once a military naval base, into the "jewel of Mediterranean tourism".
Rama said that previous governments as well as his government have had many requests for the development of the island, but according to him, Kushner's may turn out to be the right one.
Part of Rama's statement:
I can show you many projects, and cases of communication with big investors coming. Since the first day I entered the office, I try to invite them, show them the advantages of Albania. It was completely difficult in the first 6 years, while today it is more and more frequent. We have made Albania fashionable. Albania today has become a name that is talked about everywhere, constantly and well.
The other part of this plan is for Albanians who work abroad for someone else to come here and work. And those who have understood it come here and make hostels.
So what happened with Sazan is happening, is happening and will happen with other investments as well. I have not accessed the funds, because we still do not have any project for the part of Zvrnec. Meanwhile, a request for Sazan has been officially submitted. He handed it over to make an investment in Sazan which will transform Sazan into what has been the wish of my ancestors at the time. It has been my obsession since I came to office, we had 3-4 previous requests which we rejected. In this case, I hope that it will be the case that Sazani becomes the jewel of Mediterranean tourism. It will be a destination of the highest level of harmonizing nature with man and will bring the highest tourism consumers.
It brings income for the Albanians, for the budget. It is a tourism that with one client brings as much income as for 100 tourists who come with a bag. We have discussed vision, nothing concrete.