Prime Minister Edi Rama held a meeting this Saturday with farmers in Dibra, where he focused on Albania’s prospects for integration into the European Union.
During his speech, Rama emphasized that EU membership is no longer just a desire but a necessity, highlighting the importance of farmers organizing and uniting in cooperative structures to increase competitiveness in the market.
“We are no longer simply willing — we are obliged to move into the phase of cooperation. The EU functions through cooperatives, unlike the cooperatives of the communist era. In EU cooperatives, everyone produces individually but sells together. They have stronger negotiating power with buyers, as they use shared seeds, split cultivation costs, collect their products, and sell them collectively.
Where this has been implemented — even before we encouraged it — it has led to the flourishing of agricultural Albania, particularly in the south, in areas like Saranda and Konispol, where previously three-quarters of the land was not cultivated at all.
It is an example where smart farmers say: we will sell mandarins, and we will sell together so that we have large volumes and create strength.
There must be unity, and for this reason we have decided to support cooperation financially, institutionally, and in alliance with the state. The municipality will be a shareholder, not to take your profits. ‘Dibra Origin’ is starting to become a brand and is beginning to be marketed.
Otherwise, we will not be able to withstand the competition when we become EU members. That large market — if we enter it individually, we will not survive. You must unite to face the EU market,” Rama said.
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