The leaders of Kosovo and Serbia are set to visit Brussels next week to discuss the resumption of dialogue between the two countries, but they will not meet with each other. The European Commission confirmed that President Aleksandar Vucic of Serbia and Prime Minister Albin Kurti of Kosovo will have separated meetings with senior EU officials in Brussels next week. The timetable shows that Vucic will meet EC President Ursula Von Leyen, top EU diplomat Josep Borrell and Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi on Monday. Kurti’s meeting with the same officials are set for three days later, on Thursday. The meeting agenda was published after the two leaders had meetings with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas in their capitals. The dialogue on normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia was one of the topics Maas discussed with both parties. Kosovo insists on a dialogue based on clear principles and for the process to end with mutual recognition. The new Kurti government says the dialogue is not their main priority, nad that they are focused on dealing with the pandemic and securing vaccines. Meanwhile, during a joint press conference with Maas on Friday, Vucic said Serbia is ready to continue talks with Kosovo. https://exit.al/en/2021/04/23/leaders-of-kosovo-and-serbia-to-discuss-the-dialogue-in-brussels-separately/

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan inaugurated a new regional hospital built by Turkey in Fier. It came three months following Erdogan’s promise to Rama to have the hospital completed before the April 25 elections in Albania.  The “Regional Memorial Hospital” of Fier will be part of the Albanian public healthcare system but jointly administered by Albania and Turkey, according to a model for decentralization of hospital management that the Albanian government has planned to expand througout the country. Speaking to a crowd of Socialist Party supporters and Turkish officials at the inauguration ceremony, Rama thanked Erdogan for keeping his promise to build the hospital before general elections, and for his “special love, attention and respect” for Albania.  In a live connection from Ankara, Erdogan said he was proud that Turkey was able to complete the construction in a short time. The President added that it was a result of the strengthening strategic partnership between the two countries. The hospital cost Turkey about €70 million, Erdogan said. It occupies over 17,000 square meters, it has 6 operating rooms, and 130 beds. In total, 387 medical staff from 23 specialty fields will be employed, of which 331 Albanian and 56 Turkish. Turkish Minister of Health Fahrettin Koca said the agreement for the joint administration of the hospital can be extended each year. His Albanian counterpart Ogerta Manastirliu clarified that today marked the inauguration of the hospital but its operation is planned to start one month later, May 20. She praised the “hospital autonomy” model of administration, which she said will be extended in all Albanian hospitals if they win another term in office. The plan to transform Albania’s public hospitals into entities with financial and administrative  autonomy is not public but the government plans to rely on Turkey’s experience in reforming its healthcare system. https://exit.al/en/2021/04/21/rama-erdogan-inaugurate-albanian-turkish-hospital-ahead-of-albanian-elections/

The USAID and Creative Business Solutions (CBS) marked the conclusion of their 5-year SmartCapital partnership project in an online event on Wednesday. Results presented by the implementing partners showed the project assisted 1,000 agribusinesses to secure $59 million for new investments and led to the opening of 1,500 new jobs.   SmartCapital aimed at enabling access to financing for farmers and agribusinesses, support for obtaining modern technologies, assistance in the use of related digital platforms and the certification of Albanian products in line with international standards. USAID representative in Albania, Mikaela Meredith noted that the project experience legacy will continue to help farmers grow their businesses. She commended Creative Business Solutions, the project implementing partner whose activity focuses on consulting, for their work and plans to establish a private equity fund in the region. CBS Executive Director and President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Albania, Enio Jaco said that the project’s major priorities were to bring the agriculture sector business community closer to European standards and to strengthen trade relations between the U.S. and Albania. He laid out to participants  the three key pillars on which support for the business community will continue: Consultancy Services on technical assistance for businesses, Digital Platforms to facilitate the connection among financial institutions and agribusiness community, as well as the sale of agricultural produce in international markets through e-commerce, the first Private Equity Fund in Albania will offer entrepreneurs financing opportunities outside the banking sector.     Over the project implementation period, CBS, USAID’s partner, developed two digital platforms to facilitate crediting for farmers. LORES connects farmers to banks and facilitates the crediting of the agriculture sector, while Agro Trade is the first e-commerce platform in Albania enabling the export of Albanian products to international markets. CBS will continue to offer technical assistance to farmers through its three branches in Tirana, Korce and Lushnje. Serge Guay, an international banking expert stressed the importance of employing financial technology products for SME development in the country, as a necessity driven even more by the situation created by the Covid-19 global pandemic. Speaking of the Albanian equity market initiative by CBC, Gavin Ryan, World Bank expert on private equity funds and SmartCapital consultant, underlined the potential for development of the Albanian SME sector and opportunities such alternative financing would create. https://exit.al/en/2021/04/21/usaid-cbs-project-leads-to-59m-in-investments-1500-new-jobs-in-agriculture/