TIRANA (Albania), June 20 (SeeNews) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is working with the EU to structure a 100 million euro ($116 million) investment programme to support the tourism sector in Albania, a senior EBRD official told SeeNews.
“The total amount we are looking to invest alongside the EU delegation would be 100 million euro, of which the EBRD would put forward 60 million euro and the EU would provide 40 million euro in grant funding,” Matteo Colangeli, head of EBRD office in Albania, said in a statement e-mailed to SeeNews on Tuesday.
“This is still a work in progress, and all subject to structuring and approval,” he added.
Albania continues to attract an increasing number of foreign tourists from Europe, the region and beyond, Albanian prime minister Edi Rama said in May, adding that the country was visited by a record five million tourists last year.
Rama also said the number of foreign tourists who visited Albania in the first quarter of 2018 increased by 12% on the year.
The number of foreign nationals who visited Albania in the first four months of 2018 rose by 7% year-on-year to 1.03 million, according to data published by the country's statistical office, INSTAT.
To date, the EBRD has invested almost 1 billion euro in some 80 projects in Albania.
($ = 0.8433 euro)