Korca dont you worry, you have friends in America!

Korça has really good friends everywhere, but a new association will organize Korca people wherever they are, being either residents of the city, or those who left the city, people who love it or its friends. This group according to the chairman of “Friends of Korça”, Mr. Gjergji Gjinko, is an organization of all those interested to see Korca in a new more positive perspective and also eager to solve all the main problems of the entire district and give Korca what it deserves. Korça and its region is a district which has provided its contribution in a national range and the promoters of this initiative aim at promoting these values and develop them even more. “What preoccupies us more”- says Mr. Gjinko,-is the abandonment of its residents and it particular of the youngsters. “We have problems with high unemployment rate, mainly for youngsters causing them to leave the city and move in Tirana, or in other European countries, also in America. The Korça people have historically immigrated to America and the diaspora there is huge and well-organized, thus, “The Friends of Korça” association, above all, aims at reducing this phenomenon of leaving the city, by providing opportunities for employment and development. This is the willingness not only of the organizers in Tirana, but the initiative was also strongly supported even in the tour organized lately in USA, where meetings and visits were held in eight Albanian-American communities, mainly of Korca region. The branches of this association have already been settled in some major cities such as New-Jersey, Washington, New York, Baltimore, Boston, Uster and Chicago. After contacting some Korca immigrants in USA, their willingness to help the city is enormous and they had a certain power to provide considerable support. Albanian-Americans going to the USA in various periods, have already important positions in business and decision-making. Besides the individual support, they have expressed their will to invest in serious projects and political lobbing. Every summer, “The Friends of Korça” will organize a meeting with diaspora which will bring to Korca, representatives from all over the world to be acquainted with the needs of the city for investments. These meetings will enable the exchanging of ideas, needs and collaboration opportunities. This new initiative requires coordination with the heads of the local power and political parties, as well as actors of development in Korca in order to build a program which will maximize the diaspora contribution to the benefit of the region.