Prime Minister Edi Rama, together with the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sports, Blendi Gonxhja, closely inspected the progress of works at the stadium where the infrastructure is being built for Kanye West’s major concert, which will take place on Saturday, July 11, in Tirana.
“3,500 workers have been engaged since the moment we started. At the same time, teams are now working day and night, 24 hours a day. All the technical equipment that the region can provide is here, because it is very difficult equipment to find, since the whole world is very busy, especially our continent, with live events now. From a technical point of view, this is a project that happens very rarely and requires extraordinary commitment,” Minister Gonxhja said.
Preparations are continuing around the clock, while technical infrastructure of international standards is being installed at the site, which, due to its complexity, requires broad logistical and professional coordination.
“As an ambition, it has surprised them too, and they have approached it with both curiosity and extraordinary dedication; all the artists, the directing team, the technical team, and his security team have been surprised. They were expecting a different Albania, we must say this. Even the Germans, who know us better, have also been surprised. Groups have naturally also come from Turkey, with whom we work more often. The European groups from England, France, and the Netherlands are all surprised by the conditions and by the Albanian ambition, with 65 thousand square meters, an improvised stadium. A good part of the people who are also misinformed do not actually understand the importance of this event, the importance of this undertaking, not only from the point of view of the difficulty, let us say, of realizing it and the record that Albania will achieve in making it become reality, but from the economic point of view it is directly, so to speak, an extraordinary benefit for the area, for the city, for the capital. Work is not being done here for an event; work is being done here for an occurrence, work is being done to build a reputation which, if we succeed with all the elements, and I believe we will succeed in being where we need to be in this organization, will be something that will last for 10 years. It will be a door that opens for an opportunity for us, for us to be not only in the global calendar of events, but for Albania’s entry into a completely different level,” Minister Gonxhja emphasized.
The capital is preparing to welcome tens of thousands of spectators from 80 countries, in an event expected to mark an important moment for the events industry, while Prime Minister Rama assessed the concert as an investment with long-term impact on the economy, tourism, and Albania’s international positioning.
“Beyond these things, it is very important to keep in mind that this is an event organized entirely by the private group, Albanian, German, and Turkish partners who have taken on this colossal undertaking, and the Albanian state was forced to intervene only yesterday to provide not tens of millions of euros, as the crows and ravens of the boulevard say, but 4 million, so that we can guarantee that those thousands and thousands of people who have bought tickets from Europe, from America, from Australia, from 80 countries, and there are more, as we speak now, more than those who bought tickets and came for the Conference League final, if this event were left unrealized, it would be one less opportunity for the economy of the capital, because those thousands of people bring an immediate economic impact, but they also bring an economic impact step by step. That Conference League final brought us that whole boom of tourists from the Netherlands and from Italy. These are the events, because the world is not stupid to organize such events, which naturally require an initial expense, but they are investments, investments. Investments for another Albania that does not stop, does not turn back, let those who do not want it jump up and down,” Prime Minister Rama said.
