Switzerland gives Albania 500,000 USD for reform

The Swiss government has given Albania 500,000 U.S. dollars aimed at assisting the authorities here to further consolidate territorial and administrative reform, the Swiss embassy in Tirana said.

The agreement was signed Thursday by Swiss Ambassador to Albania Christoph Graf and UN resident representative Brian Williams, the embassy's press release said.

This new fund comes as part of the multi-donor project support for the Territorial and Administrative Reform STAR 2 while it will assist the new municipalities that emerged from the amalgamation of former local government units.

The Swiss embassy here further said that jointly with the other donors, Switzerland continues to support the territorial and administrative reform due to its potential to improve the functioning of local government here.

The project will last for three years and a half and has a budget of about 8.2 million U.S. dollars while the

Albanian government will provide 250.000 dollars for this initiative, the same sources said.

Its focus is to strengthen management and administrative capacities at municipal level for delivering more efficient, inclusive and equitable services.

The Swiss contribution is a continuation of a previous financial contribution of 700,000 dollars during the first phase of the STAR project, the embassy added in its press release. Endit