At the meeting held on January 17 in Durrës with the mayors of Albania’s municipalities, Prime Minister Edi Rama presented a new approach to the concept of the entrepreneurial municipality, as a strategic direction for strengthening financial autonomy and increasing the active role of local government in territorial economic development. The Prime Minister underlined that the current model—largely dependent on state transfers and traditional local revenues—is no longer sufficient to meet growing development challenges and public service demands.

In his address, Rama emphasized the need for a clear shift in mindset and in the way municipalities operate, stressing that economic development requires local government to move beyond the role of tax administrator and become an active actor in revenue generation and investment promotion at the local level.

“You cannot simply sit and wait for the state budget, or rely only on fees and rents. That is not enough. You must move to another phase—especially municipalities that have all the opportunities, demand, and potential. But even smaller municipalities can and must do this.”

The Entrepreneurial State and the Municipality as an Economic Partner

The Prime Minister linked this approach to the philosophy of the “entrepreneurial state,” arguing that conditions are now in place for public institutions to build real partnerships with the private sector and actively participate in economic development by using public assets in the interest of citizens and revenue growth.

“The conditions have been created for us to start building the entrepreneurial state—to be entrepreneurial by partnering with the private sector and sharing in the profits of enterprise.”

In this context, Rama highlighted the role of municipalities in cooperation with new development instruments and partnerships with the private sector for profit-generating projects, stressing that territory should be viewed through a development-oriented, not merely administrative, lens.

“In this direction, municipalities can play a very important role. In cooperation with the Albanian Investment Corporation, they can develop projects and achieve extraordinary results with tangible economic benefits.”

European Practices and the Revenue-Generating Municipality

The Prime Minister referred to concrete European examples, noting that in many countries municipalities are directly involved in rural entrepreneurship, agro-processing, agrotourism, and collection infrastructures, generating income while fostering local development.

“You only need to go to Greece to see that every municipality is a partner with private actors in agrotourism and agro-processing structures. The municipality is a shareholder there and earns revenue.”

“You only need to go to Italy to see that every municipality is part of entrepreneurial activity in rural areas. There is no major collection center in Italy where the municipality is not a stakeholder or even the full owner.”

A New Phase for Local Government

In closing, the Prime Minister called on municipalities to move beyond a purely communal approach in rural areas and to engage more strongly in economic, rural, and agro-processing development, by leveraging new instruments and potential partnerships.

“This requires all municipalities to overcome that mental barrier where the municipality functions in rural areas merely as a communal enterprise… disconnected from agricultural development, livestock development, rural development, and agro-processing.”

This vision of the entrepreneurial municipality aims to strengthen local governance, increase revenues, and create greater development opportunities across all territories, positioning local government as a more active and influential player in both the local and national economy.