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Jared Kushner tells how he met Edi Rama on the Rothschilds' yacht and what was the reason he chose Sazan
2025-05-17 20:18:12 / POLITIKË
US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has told how he met Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, expressing his admiration for the latter's vision to transform Albania.
During his speech delivered online at the Future Investment Initiative Forum held in Tirana, Kushner, who is one of the Forum's speakers, told the story of how he first met Prime Minister Edi Rama.
" So, like all things in life, everything takes its course. I was on vacation after we left the (US) government in the summer of 2021. We were on our friend Matt Rothschild's boat, they picked us up in Montenegro and then we started sailing to Corfu and spent a few days in Albania," Kushner initially said.
He then tells that one of the nights there, Prime Minister Rama went on his yacht.
“I hadn’t met him when I was in government, but I was very, very impressed by his vision for what he wanted to do with Albania, I really didn’t know anything about the country,” Kushner says of the meeting. “I didn’t understand the history and the darkness of communism and the terrible leadership that actually led that country to complete underdevelopment as a nation, but Eddie came on the yacht and one of the interesting things that attracted me was the fact that he seemed like a very skilled politician, a very strong and smart leader.”
"But - explains Kushner - also the fact that, since he was an artist in the past, I thought it would be very interesting to see how an artist was really running a place and building it, someone with amazing taste and great creativity. And so I was intrigued by that."
Kushner continues the story by saying that before heading to Corfu, they stopped at Butrint and were met with a spectacular view.
Kushner felt as if the landscape itself was showing him the potential of the place, with so much amazing beauty, where he and his wife Ivanka sunbathed, swam a lot, walked a lot, in a place that simply had extraordinary natural beauty.
“But it seemed like a place that nobody knew or understood and so they didn’t think much of it for about a year and then about a year later, we started looking at the opportunities in the Balkans and the partner that was leading that effort. I said, you know what, let’s go to Albania, I had such a good experience there. Go check it out, see if there’s something there,” Kushner further explains.
He continues with the story, showing how the Vlora Airport project was a big bonus and an added plus to the list of requests for major investments.
“Dhe ne u tërhoqëm menjëherë nga vendi ku ata po ndërtonin një aeroport në Vlorë dhe padyshim një vend do të ndërtojë një aeroport pranë bregut dhe vendit që ata mendojnë se është më i bukuri, kështu që shkuam atje. Ne kërkuam mundësi dhe ishim në gjendje të gjenim disa mundësi të jashtëzakonshme, kështu që kjo erdhi vërtet nga padyshim një pasion, dhe erdhi nga dëshira për të ndërtuar diçka që mendoj se mund të jetë vërtet unike në botë”, përfundon ai rreth kësaj çështjeje.
“Epo, ke momente kur mendon, a ia vlen vërtet kjo? E di, për çfarë dreqin po e bëj këtë, por isha shumë kurioz që kaluam rreth një vit, duke kuptuar vërtet tregun, demografinë, trendet, rritjen e dyfishtë të vendit, ritmin e Europës, por pastaj duhet të thuash, në rregull, a do të jetë ky vend, i cili historikisht ka një reputacion paksa të përzier, një vend i pastër?”, tha Kushner, referuar projektit të tij për Zvërnecin.
“A do ta bëjë qeveria atë që thotë se do ta bëjë, apo a do të jesh në gjendje të marrësh miratime? Pa pasur nevojë të luash lojëra qesharake, a do të jenë, si të them, ndryshe. A do t’i mbajnë premtimet e tyre?”, i pati shtruar Kushner pyetjet vetes.
Ai më pas pranon se pas vizitës së parë në Shqipëri, kaloi gati një vit duke njohur ambientin, duke kuptuar, duke studiuar tregun, së bashku me një partnerin e tij, i cili ishte personi në terren dhe pika e referimit për vendimmarrjet e Kushnerit.
“Sa më shumë që u futëm në dizajnim – shpjegon Kushner – aq më shumë u dashuruam me atë që po krijonim dhe ndjenim se mjedisi ishte perfekt, por jo pa punën e shkëlqyer të ekipit në terren, partnerëve tanë në terren dhe Qeverisë, duke krijuar vërtet një mjedis shumë pro-rritjes”
Ai më pas kujton edhe situatën me gazetën amerikane New York Times, e cila ishte e para që publikoi projektin e Sazanit, dizajnuar nga Kushner dhe se si ishin ngritur pikëpyetje se ligjet po e favorizonin atë për të marrë këto hapa zhvillimorë në Shqipëri.
Po ai shpjegon se nuk dinte gjë për ligjet dhe këtë ia kishte pohuar gazetës amerikane. Më pas NYT pranoi se ndryshimet në ligjin shqiptar kishin ardhur për të rritur dhe zhvilluar vendin, për të inkurajuar investimet dhe ndryshimin.
“Po dëgjoja pak panelin e fundit dhe ata po flisnin për atë që duhet të ndodhë në mënyrë që vendet të rriten dhe qeveria në Shqipëri ka bërë të gjitha këto gjëra dhe kjo çon në investime që çojnë në prosperitet që çon në vëmendje, që çon në turizëm”, shpjegoi ai më tej.
Sipas Kushner, kjo çon në rritje të vendeve të punës, çon në rritje të pagave.
"So, the right things are happening here and so I've been very, very proud to highlight this and you know, I've gotten a lot of great feedback from Albanians, when I go to the country and the Albanian diaspora. Even yesterday, I met a gentleman who said, you know, I'm from Albania, I'm going back this summer to Vlora. Hey, I've never been there and heard incredible things, and I really thank you for bringing so much promotion to our country, which I think is a real gem."
Kushner emphasizes that above all, he has singled out the environment as a key part.
"So the natural environment and what makes this place so special is the environment that is there. And so we have hired Arup, who are one of the leading engineers in Europe, to help us with the right conservation programs. If we don't respect the environment, the development that we are going to create there is not going to be that special, so we have to make sure that we really preserve the environment," he explained.
In fact, according to Kushner, there was also a story circulating in the media that said they were damaging a river delta. But it later turned out that it was 8 miles away and had nothing to do with their project, so he thinks that together with the company, they have managed to get people to accept this.
"And when we publish the plans, people will see how we have embraced the local environment and really tried to do something that will improve it, but it all depends on the location."
For the latter, he mentioned the proximity to Italy and Greece.
"So this project is 60 miles from Italy, 60 miles from Corfu, and like I said, there's a new airport that's going to open very soon and it's going to be a 10-minute drive from this project, so the natural beauty is incredible."
Kushner adds: “The location is incredible and you’re right in the middle of the Mediterranean, but again, because of the bad history that this country had until the ’90s, it was really underdeveloped, so you don’t have that kind of opportunity in the Mediterranean where there’s been a lot of development and then everything is over-regulated, where nothing can be built and nothing can be done. So these things are coming together and we, I think empirically, felt like this made a lot of sense, so we’ve spent a lot of time and effort and capital to move this forward, and I think we’re going to be able to do something very spectacular, which we’ll be announcing very soon.”
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