Albania’s Government is holding discussions with the Philippines in an agreement that would see thousands of Filipinos coming to Albania for work purposes, mainly in the tourism and manufacturing sectors.
The announcement has been confirmed by the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, VisaGuide.World reports.
We are negotiating with the Philippines. If you look at the list of countries from Austria and other countries… It’s full. Thirty-eight European countries are in line to sign agreements with the Philippines on the labor side.
The Albanian PM didn’t specify the number of foreign workers, however, according to a report from Radio Free Europe, citing experts, about 30,000-40,000 qualified workers could be brought to the Balkan country.
Recently, Albania’s Ministry of Economy announced that the government is negotiating with other countries to bring qualified workers to Tirana.
The Ministry of Economy is making good efforts to get quality employees from the foreign market. What I am saying as a young woman that will happen very soon, is that we are at the end of a contract with a state that has qualified employees in several industries, including tourism, but also clothing.
According to Gega, the agreement will help to meet the needs of the market for qualified workers.
New Migration Strategy Introduced
Last month, Albania’s Ministry of Interior held a meeting during which the implementation of the National Migration Strategy and Action Plan 2019-2022 was discussed. The Ministry also introduced a new 2024-2030 Strategy.
During the meeting, the representatives discussed the need to review the legal basis for labor migration, social integration for internationals in Albania, reintegration of returned migrants and the issue of unaccompanied minors.
According to the statistics from the Interior Ministry of Albania from 2019 to 2023, there were 24,590 work permits granted to foreign nationals, however, the REL report says that there is no data on how many of them are currently in Albania.
The majority of them come from Türkiye, Nepal, Bangladesh, India and Italy, with the majority of them being engaged in tourism, manufacturing and construction sectors.
Authorities in Albania have taken several steps in order to help the further growth of the country’s tourism sector which contributes significantly to Albania’s economy.
Last month, Albania and Azerbaijan held discussions to lift visas for each other’s citizens to facilitate the travel process.
Besides, in March this year, Tirana abolished visa requirements for citizens of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Thailand until the end of this year. The move came as part of efforts to further boost tourism in Albania.