بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم. His Excellency Dr. Sali Berisha, Prime Minister of Albania السالم عليكم ورحمة هللا وبركاته

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1 بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم His Excellency Dr. Sali Berisha, Prime Minister of Albania Your Excellencies and distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, السالم عليكم ورحمة هللا وبركاته It is a great honor and privilege for me and the Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB) to take part in this distinguished gathering: The 3rd International Conference on Foreign Investment in Albania. I would like to convey the warm greetings and best wishes of the President of the IDB Group, Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, who was unable to participate today due to a pressing engagement. Today s event is a continuation of the journey that was started back in 1995 by the IDB Group, and in full collaboration and support of the government of Albania, when we organized here, in the beautiful city of Tirana, the 1 st international conference on foreign investment, and then the 2 nd international conference in 2009, with the aim to attract sizable foreign direct investments from IDB member and even non-member countries. The portfolio of activities of the IDB Group in Albania, particularly in extending financing and support to infrastructure projects in the public sector has been on the increase over the last few years. Furthermore, the IDB Group is currently discussing with the government of Albania and 1

2 some partners from the private sector the formation and launching a number of strategic projects that will inshallah enhance the economy of Albania and the prosperity of its people. I would like to take this opportunity to assure the government and the people of Albania that, despite the looming global financial crisis and the slowdown of world major economies, your institution the IDB Group will be with you, like before, to support your socio-economic growth leading to your welfare and stability. The IDB Group will also leverage the strong relationships with its partners from the Coordination Group of multi and bilateral financing institutions, such as the OFID and the Saudi Fund, whose representatives are present here with us today, all to support more engagement and more projects in Albania s public and private sectors. I want also to seize this opportunity to salute the presence of such leading statesmen and many investment and business leaders and representatives from 30 countries who gathered here today in this important conference. Thank you all for joining us and for your leadership in further building robust ties between Albania and your countries and business organizations. Your participation is a testimony of the numerous advantages that this important conference offers to investors and business owners in such a friendly environment. We are confident that this year s conference will succeed in harvesting the fruits of Albania s sound macroeconomic policies, 2

3 currency stability and regulated financial sector. We, in the IDB Group, are pleased to note that the government has prepared the grounds and has gone a long way in putting in place the necessary legal frameworks to creating enabling business environments for foreign direct investment. For IDB Member Countries and for other friends of Albania, this Conference is the joint ventures hub, for the sake of fulfilling Albania s development needs and priorities. Your friends are keen to drive into this Conference private players who can contribute around their key strengths to expand to Albania s market. The gathering today of participants from so many countries reflects the growing interest in the investment opportunities available in Albania. The conference for this year is building on the successful experience of the previous two conferences which has already established itself as a trademark for investment. It marked itself as a fixture on the global investment agenda which has become a valuable occasion for all of us to meet to strengthen our international partnerships in exploring the cross-border investment prospects between Albania and our member countries. The 3rd International Conference on Foreign Investment in Albania is offering foreign investors business insight and important project 3

4 proposals. The Conference for this year has managed to generate and show case a total of 25 investment projects from important sectors like energy, infrastructure, transport, agriculture, real estate, manufacturing, information technology and communication. Participants will have the chance during the coming two days to discuss these investment opportunities with their local counterparts and business owners in many of the B2B sessions. These projects have been prepared and presented for this event. Together, they create job opportunities to the youth of this important country while franchising sustainably profitable business models. The IDB Group Business Forum THIQAH, which has worked very closely with AIDA in organizing this Conference, is eager to support the business matching and other private sector oriented services whilst working actively in promoting cross border investments. For us in the Islamic Development Bank Group, we strive to enhance the Group s development impact in the private sector, particularly in promoting investment in emerging economies. In coorganizing investment conferences like this one in Tirana we seek to replicate excellence models achieved by member countries companies, and expand them in a response to Albania s development opportunities and needs. Our participating business leaders have therefore an opportunity to spread out bright models to address development 4

5 challenges, while opening new avenues of growth and profit for themselves. Over the coming two days, this Conference will attempt to make a strong case for Albania as a perfect place for investment and business expansion. Let us all join hands to ensure that the outcome of this Conference will be up to the expectations of the people of this country. We are hopeful that the 3rd International Conference on Foreign Investment in Albania will be more successful than the last two conferences and will demonstrate to the participating international investors that this beautiful country is one of the most attractive investment destinations. والسالم عليكم ورحمة هللا وبركاته Thank you 5