Honourable Vice President,
Honourable Deputy Prime Minister,
Esteemed Ministers,
Distinguished Guests,
Esteemed Members of the Press,
Today we are together in Tirana for a gathering that will further strengthen the economic dimension of the strategic partnership between Türkiye and Albania. Welcome to this meaningful program hosted by our MÜSİAD Albania Branch; you have honoured us.
The friendship between the two countries is, besides diplomatic relations, the work of a shared memory, of a shared will and of a brotherhood reaching back centuries. A past of more than 600 years places a new responsibility upon us today and shows us the ways of developing together.
The economic cooperation between Türkiye and Albania crowns this historical depth with economic achievements. In 2024 our trade volume reached 1 billion dollars, crossing an important threshold. The volume, which reached 550 million dollars in the first seven months of 2025, shows that the target of 2 billion dollars will be reached rapidly. This momentum is the field equivalent of the trust and the vision between the business worlds of the two countries. The nearly 1,000 Turkish companies operating in Albania today are a concrete indicator of this trust.
Honourable Vice President, Esteemed Attendees,
The world today is passing through the threshold of a historic rupture. We are in a period in which the global order is shaken, alliances are reshaped and balances of power shift rapidly. In this critical period, in which a new world order is being established, our country, one of the global actors under the leadership of our President Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, regards the Balkans as a strategic centre and attaches the utmost importance to Albania's contribution to regional peace.
The sincere dialogue between our President and the Honourable Prime Minister of Albania has played a decisive role in bringing this strategic partnership to its present level. As long as there is a determined political will, there are no limits before Türkiye and Albania. As one of Albania's largest trade partners, Türkiye is a stakeholder both in trade and in development.
Our history has been nourishing this strong ground for centuries. The 35 grand viziers of Albanian origin who served in the Ottoman period are the reflections in historical memory of the deep bond between the two peoples. This common past, stretching from Arnavutköy to Berat and from İstanbul to Shkodër, still lives on in our culture, in our cities and in the hearts of our people. Our cooperation in the field of the defence industry is one of the most important headings of this partnership for the future. With the protocol signed in July 2025, Türkiye is not only providing the Albanian Armed Forces with modern systems; it is at the same time putting into practice a broad support ranging from training to logistics and from institutional capacity to technology sharing. These steps prepare the ground for joint production and technology transfer processes.
The Ziraat Bankası Tirana Branch, which will soon become operational, will further strengthen the economic bridge between the two countries. This step means both a safe harbour for Turkish investors and a new financing gateway for Albanian entrepreneurs. Türkiye's presence in Albania is deepening, beyond economic investments, through projects that touch people. From the Fier Friendship Hospital to post-earthquake housing, from the construction of the Namazgah Mosque to the social programs carried out through TİKA, many works have created a lasting legacy of brotherhood. These investments are the expression of a conscientious responsibility as much as an economic one.
Honourable Vice President, Esteemed Attendees,
The coming years point to a period in which the two countries will be more visible together in the international arena. The NATO Summit that Türkiye will host in 2026 and the summit to be held in Albania in 2027 will reinforce the regional leadership dimension of this shared vision. We wish our cooperation, which began with trade, to grow stronger in the fields of defence, technology, diplomacy and culture as well.
I believe that the MÜSİAD Trade and Investment Agency, which we established in the new period, will also contribute to this vision. This structure is not merely an administrative unit; it is a centre of thought that organizes trade, directs investment and brings projects together with resources. By managing from a single centre MÜSİAD's global network, which exists at 100 points in 82 countries worldwide and consists of more than 60,000 commercial enterprises, this agency will handle all processes from production to exports and from marketing to financing within an integrated structure.
Restructured in the new period under the headings of Trade, Investment and Resource Development, this agency turns the potential of our members into global opportunities and builds a sustainable trade ecosystem through data-based market research and digital investment platforms. This system will carry every MÜSİAD branch to the position of a trade centre and every member to the position of an investment ambassador.
With the sectoral trade delegations that the agency will organize in the coming period in Morocco, Iraq, Egypt, the Netherlands, Italy, Uzbekistan, Kenya and Nigeria, Turkish entrepreneurs will take their place more strongly in world markets.
This understanding shows that MÜSİAD has turned into a structure that does not only produce, but also manages what it produces and carries it to the world. Our aim is to ensure continuity in trade, permanence in investment and sustainability in projects, and to place Türkiye at the centre of the global economy.
Distinguished guests,
Today, here, as the pioneers of the business world, we are opening together the doors of a new period.
Türkiye and Albania, with an economic, social and cultural cooperation based on trust, are building one of the strongest examples of the age of “friendshoring”. The future will take shape with the determination to produce together, to grow together and to win together.
As I conclude my words, I extend my gratitude to our Honourable Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, who honoured us with his presence today, to the Deputy Prime Minister of Albania Ms. Belinda Balluku and to all the participants; I wish our investment forum to be auspicious and offer my respects…