Mountain tourism and investments in its development continue to be priorities. The government has now reinforced this with a new package of support for investments in these areas, which will encourage local residents to invest in their lands.
The Mountain Package, in addition to the sustainable development of the rural economy, will impact the promotion of “Made in Albania” products and the expansion of the tourist map.
The Deputy Minister of Economy, Culture, and Innovation, Enkelejd Musabelliu, in an interview for the Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA), announced that this package aims to encourage private initiatives, promote sustainable development, integrate investments in areas with high potential, and inhibit the abandonment of the village.
According to him, the goal is economic recovery and development, encouraging investment, employment, and the development of small local economies to improve the quality of life of residents in these areas, avoiding dependence on income from immigration, as well as restoring the confidence of citizens, that the natural and cultural assets of these development priority areas can be turned into a blessing for the social and economic conditions for the local communities living there.
According to the deputy minister, mountain farms that keep alpine goats can also benefit from the “Mountain Package” by applying to acquire the land to make the stable, to build farms for the cultivation of blueberries or mushrooms, or any type of investment in this direction.
“The establishment of at least 500 agro-tourisms in mountainous areas is an extraordinary development. Agro-tourism and mountain farms have the potential to bring a very large economic development to rural mountain areas, which suffer from a spark of this nature. If we incentivize 500 businesses, the development that we will have done in these mountainous areas, in terms of employment and income of these residents, will be extraordinary,” he said.
Agro-tourisms not only employ people around them but also share knowledge, so that other residents around them start doing the same.
The “Mountain Package” provides ease of procedures for ownership and construction, as well as fiscal stimulus policy.
“The first 500 entities that will invest in mountainous areas will be exempted from four taxes for 10 years, such as profit tax, infrastructure tax, real estate tax, and VAT,” said Musabelliu in the interview for ATA.
The deputy minister emphasized that the draft law aims to solve the problem of land in mountainous areas, which are generally state land and even though it is known by the residents of the area that it belongs to a certain tribe or family, it is not that it has ever been registered and is not a certificate of ownership is owned. “This law allows recognizing the precursor documents of the Albanian state from the times of Ottoman occupation, King Zog, or Italian occupation,” he emphasized.
With this document, the property cannot be registered in the Mortgage, but it serves as a proof document to request the development of that property, he said. Musabelliu explained that this law does not aim to legalize existing facilities.
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