Rama in "The Talk": Concrete steps towards the EU, tourism the engine of development, economic growth above expectations
In the final episode of this season of the podcast "Flasim", Prime Minister Edi Rama summarized the main developments of the week, focusing on the country's economic performance, the European integration process, support for agriculture, and dialogue with entrepreneurship.
According to him, the Albanian economy recorded a growth of 3.75% in the third quarter of 2025, a level above forecasts and higher than the regional average. This growth, he said, confirms a sustainable expansion of economic activity, supported by consumption, services, construction and investments.
Tourism remains the main engine of economic development. During the third quarter alone, revenues from travel services reached around 2.3 billion euros, leading the services trade surplus to approximately 1.9 billion euros, with an annual growth of 27%. This performance, according to Rama, has made a direct contribution to the growth of national production and the improvement of the balance of payments.
In parallel, foreign direct investments have continued to grow, reaching around 450 million euros in the third quarter, with an annual growth of 10%. Investments have been concentrated mainly in strategic sectors such as tourism, real estate, finance and energy.
The Prime Minister also focused on the labor market, emphasizing that although the unemployment rate has remained at 8.1%, employment has increased to 69.6% and labor force participation has reached 76.5%. Meanwhile, the average gross salary has increased from 776 euros to 830 euros, reflecting the improvement in the income of Albanian families.
In the field of agriculture and food, Rama presented the “EuroAgro Albania 2025–2030” initiative, which aims to prepare the sector for the European common market and fulfill chapters 11, 12 and 13 of the accession negotiations. He emphasized that today over 67,500 farmers benefit from direct support from the state, while agricultural exports have exceeded the value of half a billion euros and the trade deficit ratio has improved significantly.
"EuroAgro Albania is not just a website, but a working tool and a practical guide for farmers and businesses," said Rama, underlining that the challenges have increased, but the capacities of the sector are also at another level.
Another important point of the week was the dialogue with entrepreneurship, where the focus was on the implementation of the Fiscal Peace, which comes into force from January next year. According to Rama, this initiative aims to build a new relationship between the tax administration and business, offering opportunities for self-correction of previous declarations with a reduced profit tax and reducing the bureaucratic burden.
FULL MATERIAL:
Notes of the week
At the start of the last episode of this season of the podcast "Flasim", Prime Minister Rama summarized the main issues of the week.
Albania 54 places higher in digital governance
The World Bank has published the GovTech Maturity Index 2025, or in Albanian, the report that once every 2-3 years evaluates 197 countries around the world for the level of digital transformation of the public sector.
I know that today AKSHI faces an investigation by SPAKU for the use of funds and Linda Karçanaj, the woman who has led the realization of our governing vision, for the historic digital transformation of the governance of Albania, with knowledge, will and unwavering dedication for 12 years in a row, is under a security measure with a terrible accusation, for which we must patiently wait only for justice, and nothing can be expected from the 700 pots of political media soup, so that the truth, whatever it may be, will finally come out.
But I also know that thanks to her and the AKSHI team, where talented girls and boys from the new world of technology work around the clock, Albania has made a huge leap forward, compared to 2022 when the previous World Bank report on digital governance was released.
This time, not only do we continue to be ranked in Group A - called the High Maturity group, where we have 0.939 points out of 1, which is the maximum, but thanks to a significant increase, compared to the previous report, where we had 0.752, this year we have moved from 68th place to 14th place, among all those countries, leaving behind, precisely thanks to the work and will to put new technology at the service of the public and the development of Albania, countries with big names, such as Denmark, Singapore or the United Kingdom, and so on.
This is an objective and professional report, which evaluates four main areas, covering basic government systems, online public services, digital citizen engagement, and institutional and legal enabling factors, and without question, it absolutely does not justify any violation of the law that is alleged to have occurred in the activity of the ANA, which only the judicial process can tell us, but on the other hand, all the hysterical noise of 700 pots of political media soup cannot undo Albania's fantastic result in this area of ANA's activity, which you can easily verify through the link to the report.
The link to the report is available on the World Bank website: https://www.worldbank.org/content/programs/govtech/en/gtmi-2025-update.html
Economic growth and political media hysteria
This week too, the noise of 700 political media cauldrons, where information obtained in violation of the law by the custodians of files and investigative actions boils under high pressure, left no room for good news - even though this past week was also Christmas week.
Precisely, this week, the results of the third quarter of the year were released, where the Albanian economy grew by 3.75% - a growth rate above the forecast and significantly higher than the average around us, which confirms the positive performance of our economy and reflects a stable and balanced expansion of economic activity, supported by consumption, services, construction and investments.
During the third quarter of 2025, tourism was the main engine of economic growth.
Travel services revenues reached nearly 2.3 billion euros in this quarter alone, driving the services trade surplus to about 1.9 billion euros, an annual increase of 27%. To make it tangible for everyone, I emphasize that this strong services performance has made a direct contribution to the growth of the Gross National Product and to the improvement of the balance of payments.
Investor confidence also remained strong in the third quarter. Foreign direct investment reached around 450 million euros, with an annual growth of 10%, mainly concentrated in strategic sectors such as tourism, real estate, finance and energy.
Not only that, but economic growth in the third quarter of 2025 has been accompanied by an improvement in the labor market. The unemployment rate has remained at 8.1%, but employment has increased to 69.6% and labor force participation has reached 76.5%. In parallel and again to make everything I am saying tangible, the average gross salary in Albania increased from 776 euros to 830 euros, reflecting an increase in income from work and a further improvement in the economic situation of families.
EuroAgro Albania 2025–2030
This week we presented a practical and necessary mechanism for preparing the agriculture and food sector for the European single market, with Chapters 11, 12 and 13 at the heart of the accession negotiation process. It will be a tough challenge, but what we have done in a decade gives us confidence and strength that we will do everything we need to succeed in the next two years to conclude the negotiations by the end of 2027.
A decade ago, only 5,600 farmers received what was then symbolic support from the state. Today, there are 67,500 farmers who benefit from real support every year, which weighs on their farm portfolio. Exports were once a privilege of a handful of farmers, while today Albanian products go to 80 countries around the world and exports have exceeded half a billion euros, while the trade deficit ratio, i.e. exports and imports of food products, has decreased from 1 export, 9 imports to 1 export and only 3 imports.
Today we are at another level, but the challenges are also at another level.
EuroAgro Albania is not just another website, it is not just another page on the internet, but it is a working tool, a step-by-step guide, as a source of information on standards, deadlines and concrete obligations, as well as an open dialogue channel for farmers and businesses on this path towards membership.
Dialogue with entrepreneurship
A new chapter of partnership and trust has just begun with entrepreneurship, of course on the foundations that have already been laid, and this week we spoke at length, sharing several views and having at the center of the discussion Fiscal Peace, a pledge of our electoral campaign, which is now law and will come into effect starting in January of next year.
Essentially, fiscal peace aims to build a new, healthy relationship between the tax administration and entrepreneurship. It allows companies that are not in conflict with the law to self-correct past declarations, revert to previous statements, and pay only a 5% profit tax for each correction.
Likewise, the agreement between the enterprise and the administration on the new annual profit ceiling brings peace and tranquility, avoids any inspections, and reduces the bureaucratic burden, which often weighs more than the fiscal burden.
From this initiative we expect more formalization, more entrepreneurial energy and more direct impact on the sustainable economic development of the country. The release of all enterprises from all old fines, old debts, according to the established schedule goes in this direction.
Excellent graduates
One of the most inspiring moments of the week was the hospitality of not a few, but 190 excellent high school graduates from all over Albania, who were deservedly honored with the Gold Medal.
Examples are essential for any society and the high school gold medalists are the strength of an excellent example, they are children who come from families with different social status and among them, there are children who come from families that barely make ends meet, but their example tells us all that you can look for and find, with full right, excuses for not doing what needs to be done, but this world belongs to those who do not look for excuses, but who move forward to do what needs to be done. And I want to wish from the bottom of my heart to all those children that they grow up like this, with ambition and without ever giving up on the path to realizing their dream.
For Albania moving forward
And since this is the last episode of the year, let me make a somewhat special note.
The Albania of 700 political media cauldrons, where the whole sludge of half-truths that are also the biggest lies boils with hysteria, where people and families are lynched without any concern, for all sorts of unfounded reasons, from the fines of the portalexists to the malice of the troublemakers and the anger of the gossipers, cannot and will not repel the Albania of all the open chapters of the negotiations for membership in the European Union; the Tourist Albania with the main airport of the region, which for the seventh year in a row this year, has left behind the historically main airport in the Balkans, that of Belgrade; the Albania of digital transformation and sustainable economic growth, where the average salary has already reached 830 euros; the Albania of the epochal transformation of infrastructure, where new construction sites are opened every year, whether for the country's large arteries or for the small ones; The Albania of energy sovereignty, which within this fourth mandate will be a net exporter of energy and will no longer pay a single penny to buy energy abroad; the Albania of the rebirth of the military industry, which will host the NATO Summit in 2027 and will defend the skies that day with drones produced in our country.
The Albania of 700 media and hysterical political pots cannot and cannot humble itself, even in the morality of the fight against corruption, the Albania of Justice Reform, the Albania of the Independence of Justice from Political Power, the Albania governed by the force of passion and state-building will, where for the first time in history, a ruling party paves the way for justice to clean up with the broom of the law the courtyard of political power that was forbidden until yesterday, including its own part in that courtyard.
This Albania, my Albania, your Albania, the Albania of those who are children today and who deserve a place of the rule of law and not the rule of scum, will not be able to and will not be humbled by the Albania of 700 political media pots, who do not want justice for Albania, but want destabilization, they want chaos, they want destruction to the detriment of Albania, they do not want justice through law but revenge through scum, they do not want justice but self-justification, lynchings, humiliations.
We will continue to fight for the justice that this state has lacked since its birth, 100 years ago. We will continue to support the justice institutions with everything we have in order to do their job and we will remain the unwavering guarantors of Justice Reform, and of the independence of justice from politics, continuing to remain the voice and the greatest strength of Albanians for Albania that no one else can protect like us, can't change like us, can't make Albania into the European Union like we will.
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