TIRANA – Albanian Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Waters Administration hosted on Wednesday the meeting of IPARD II Monitoring Committee, ATA reports.
In attendance of the meeting was Vice Minister of Agriculture, Roni Telegrafi, Liam Breslin, head of IPARD, members of Monitoring Committee, representatives of EC and Grigor Gjeçi, director of programming and assessment of rural policies at the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Waters Administration.
“This committee is seen as a major step forward in implementation of the programme, a key instrument of agriculture sector and rural development down the path to European integration through increased competitiveness of agricultural, agri-food products as well as sustainable development of rural areas,” vice minister Telegrafi said.
He said that absorbing the funds accorded by IPARD programme is a big challenge, because this programme has approved a budget of EUR 71 mln from EC and EUR 24 mln grant from Albanian govt. 75% EU: 25% Albanian govt.), so there is a EUR 94 mln grant available for investments in rural areas during 2014 – 2020.