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Investment in Albania's road infrastructure is low: official

Xinhua, July 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

Investment in Albania's road infrastructure is low and the country sees a high number of road accidents, a World Bank official has said.

The drivers' behaviors are a leading cause for road accidents as the country has the lowest level of investment for road maintenance in the Balkan region, said World Bank Director for Albania, Tahseen Sayed.

Albania needs to increase expenditures if it wants to reduce the number of road accidents, Sayed said on Wednesday during a conference on "The standards of road safety in EU, reference point for Albania".

"On the average, Albania spends 3,000 euros (3,300 U.S. dollars) a year to maintain a kilometer of road. Meanwhile, many regional countries spend 5,000 to 7,000 dollars per kilometer," Sayed said.

"Albania spends only 8 percent of the investment budget on roads, and this is only 30 percent of what is needed," said Sayed.

Albanian Transport Minister Edmond Haxhinasto said that Albania's measures to fight informality in road transport have significantly improved road safety.

Speaking of investment, he admitted that investment in infrastructure in the country should have been higher. Endi