Whenever the “4 billion dollar investment” is mentioned, some people’s eyes fill with emotion. It seems to them that the dollars will arrive in trucks and be distributed to the villages. Everyone will find an envelope of dollars under their door.
But $4 billion in investment does not mean $4 billion for Albania.
Consultancies, architects, interior designers, engineers, lawyers, hotel brands, furnishings, equipment, technology, luxury finishes and financing will all be purchased from abroad. In Albania, pretty much, only basic works will be paid for, such as concrete, aggregates, transport, some manual labor, some energy and some local taxes.
So, the Messiah is not coming to us with 4 billion. A resort is coming that can use Albania as land, landscape, kitchen, laundry and parking for the luxury of a few exclusive people and that will pay a few crumbs from these billions to inject them into our economy.
Even during the operation of the resort, the tale continues. The luxury tourist is not distributed in the economy like a normal tourist. The luxury tourist sleeps inside the resort, eats inside, drinks inside, has fun inside and pays inside. Money does not circulate through cities, villages, bars, markets and guesthouses. Money is captured and channeled by the resort.
And these investment lovers tell us that billionaires will buy Albanian products.
Yes, yes, they will eat some tomatoes, cucumbers and watermelons, which will be bought here at market price, but which the resort will sell to the billionaire on a luxury plate at 50 times the price. The farmer will get the price of the tomatoes. The resort will get the price of the luxury and, in the end, it is said that 20 thousand people at most were fed with fresh fruits and vegetables. Just because a billionaire comes here, it does not mean that he has billions and will eat 8 tons of tomatoes for lunch. He eats as much as all human beings eat. Compare this with the 12 million tourists who regularly eat these, as well as with those other foods that those billionaires of the resort will import, such as meat, cheeses, wine, drinks, exotic fruits and many others.
But the resort lovers are not stopping. They tell us that jobs will be created.
Good. For whom? For Albanians or for workers imported from poorer Asian countries, who are paid less and are more obedient? Look at other resorts to see what kind of workers they have. Workers from the Philippines are dominant everywhere in expensive places. If workers come from abroad, their salaries go abroad, because they send them as remittances to their families and these people have minimal local consumption, because they sleep and eat inside the resort. This way, Albania will keep the slogan “jobs have opened up” on their lips, as a kind of propaganda finger.
Resort enthusiasts also tell us that elite tourists will come.
And then? How much will it be for 10 thousand rooms? 20 thousand people at a given moment, at the best moment? And this is during the season, because don’t expect billionaires to come in February. Meanwhile, Albania hosts millions of tourists a year who spend much more on small businesses, such as bars, restaurants, stalls, fast-food, rentals, taxis, markets, guides. A closed resort like this one of Rama’s lovers can make a lot of dollars, but it keeps all the money within its walls and then takes the profit across the ocean to the economy of another country. Here it will pay a 6% VAT, which is usually reduced, or even eliminated altogether for about ten years, as well as some profit tax that, of course, will be calculated after deducting the costs of consultancy, management, brand, financing interests, etc. Do you remember that oil company? How did it pay its profit tax?
So, the question is not how many billions are written into the project.
The question is how much will remain in Albania? How much will go to Albanian workers? How much will Albanian companies receive? How much will Albanian farmers earn? How much tax will actually be paid here? How much profit will go abroad?
And how much land, sea, lagoon, and nature do we lose for this tale?
Because in the end, it could happen that Albania gives away the landscape, the coast, the forest, the permits, the land, the silence of the institutions, and nature, while in return receiving a few crumbs for concrete, a few low salaries for a few people, a few kilos of tomatoes at market price, and yes, they will also pay for electricity, the same as an ordinary neighborhood pays for electricity.
Oh, I forgot, and yes, this is truly sublime for resort lovers. We will finally have the great national pride that the billionaire ate Albanian cucumber salad, despite the fact that the salad will be dressed with some beautiful French name.
