Rama, meeting with young people: We are the first in the region for employment services

2025-12-12 14:25:00, Politikë CNA

Rama, meeting with young people: We are the first in the region for employment

Prime Minister Edi Rama held a meeting with young people employed through employment promotion programs, where he presented the latest figures on the results of these schemes. He said that, according to the OECD report, Albania ranks first in the region for employment services, which according to him testifies to the progress made in structuring employment policies.

"I want to start with a fact that is not well-known, Albania, according to the OECD, which is a very serious source of data and observations on countries, is the country that ranks first in the region for employment services. This is something very positive, because it clearly speaks to the fact that the work we have done these years has given us an encouraging result," he said.

The Prime Minister emphasized that in the last five years alone, 42,000 young people have been employed through job centers and dedicated programs, while 2,200 young people currently benefit from the Youth Guarantee. He announced that the government's objective is for 60,000 young people to benefit from these programs within the government's mandate.

"There are seven programs that operate today to promote employment, covering all categories ranging from professional practices to on-the-job training, from self-employment, to social integration. And, another fact that is good to know. Young people, who are quite normal are skeptical, even indifferent to these words, in just the last 5 years, 42 thousand boys and girls have been employed through our employment offices and through these services. And, of this figure, 7 thousand and 500 are individuals who have benefited from the programs and are in work today," he said.

Rama also spoke about the 2026 budget, which foresees a 60 percent increase in the fund dedicated to youth, with a special focus on promoting self-employment and startups, 37 percent of which are run by girls.

"37% of these startups are made up of or run by girls and it is 2 times the EU average and proves my theory that women will save Albania. I am convinced of this. There is also another program, which is the self-employment program. We want to continue to increase the number of young people who want to be self-employed, we talk about all kinds of things. Young people who want to open a small business, we want to put them in the focus of this support. The budget for next year is considerable and what is important is that it is the largest budget ever to promote employment for young people. We have increased the amount dedicated to young people by 60%", said the Prime Minister./ CNA