A few hours before Kanye West’s concert will be held in Tirana, Prime Minister Edi Rama has shared images from the stadium where the event will take place.
For the prime minister, the concert will put Albania on another global map, that of the world music community.
“THE CONCERT STADIUM IS READY that will put Albania on another global map, that of the world community of music lovers, who, thanks to tonight’s musical event, will do what Kanye West does everywhere he goes: They will come to visit Albania,” writes Rama.
Through these images, Rama also responds to criticism regarding the amount allocated from the reserve fund of the state budget for this organization, of 4 million euros.
According to Rama, this is not an expense but an investment that will be returned to the country by the visitors who have arrived in Tirana in the last 48 hours.
“Some continue to talk about spending 4 million euros for one night, but ONLY WHO DOESN’T UNDERSTAND that those 4 million are an INVESTMENT, which will be returned by the thousands of visitors that in the last 48 hours have been added to hotels, apartments, restaurants, bars, shops, taxis. More than 4 million will be the income that will also be returned to the state coffers, from the increase in consumption – it’s true It’s a shame that we are having this conversation, on a marked cultural day like this for Albania”, says Rama, describing it as a marketing for Albania.
“A concert of this size and this artist is not just an artistic event. It is GLOBAL MARKETING FOR ALBANIA, an advertisement that would cost much more if it were bought with traditional campaigns. And this is not an Albanian invention. It is the way the most developed countries of Europe operate. Whoever remembers that culture is a luxury should revise this wrong opinion.
“We don’t have bread, we don’t need culture”? Wrong, culture is not only spiritual food, but also economy, tourism, development. Bread! From the Kanye West concert a few weeks ago, Istanbul had over 100 million Euros of added value.
Therefore, to present such an investment as wasted money is to not understand how monetary value is created from cultural and sports events, while the opposite, the cancellation of the concert, would be a shame for Albania and a great damage to the image of our country. Albania does not win by hiding from the world. Albania wins by bringing the world to its home”, says the head of the government.
