Sarajevo Mayor Abdulah Skaka visited the Albanian capital, on Tuesday, where he met with the Mayor of Tirana and received the key to the city of Tirana. Considering that Sarajevo and Tirana are fraternal cities since 1996, the visit was aimed at further connecting the two cities and improving international cooperation.

“This is a special honour for me, personally, and for Sarajevo citizens. Our cities are developing ever faster and we must improve our relations, cooperation and our connectivity framework,” Skaka said in his address. “Capital cities are not just generators of economic development, but can and should be leaders in the opening of political processes and regional cooperation. This is where I see our partnership grow.”

Mayors Skaka and Erion Veliaj held a private dinner where they exchanged ideas on joint appearances on foreign markets. The dinner was held After the working meeting of the two delegations, where representatives of both cities exchanged experiences on the use of EU development funds and discussed concrete tourism projects.

The two delegations also discussed ways of how to better use the ‘16+1’ process which established a certain framework for the joint action o regional capitals with foreign investors.

The ‘16+1’ initiative is part of China's One Belt, One Road mega project, a sort of modern-day Silk Road considered to be one of the most ambitious projects in the world.