World Bank supports Albania in $56m road project

Average salary in Bulgaria was £127 a month last year

Property prices in Cyprus climb 2.6% in January

37-floor Financial Towers to be built in Karachi

Belgium to support new railway line in East Africa

World Bank supports Albania in $56m road project

The World Bank has approved a $25m Transport Project for Albania that will help finance the construction of the 26km Milot-Rreshen section of the Durres-Morine corridor. The Government of Albania has recently adopted the Albanian National Transport Plan, and confirmed that the Durres-Milot-Morine corridor is its foremost priority. The development of this road corridor will reduce costs for road users markedly and also benefit a hinterland population, approaching 110,000 people, in one of the poorest regions in Albania.

Transport demand is growing rapidly in Albania, reflecting the structural changes in the economy and changes in trade flows in the region.

“The new project will reduce the costs for road users on the Milot-Rreshen section of the corridor and contribute to a significant improvement in access for the population living the deprived North East of Albania and beyond”, said Martin Humphreys, head of the World Bank team designing the project.

The total project cost amounts to $56m and is co-financed with the Government of Albania ($16m) and the OPEC Fund ($15m).

Average salary in Bulgaria was £127 a month last year

The average annual income in Bulgaria for 2006 reached 4,255 Leva (£1,520), according to data from the National Statistical Institute (NSI). Averages within the public sector reached 5,265 Leva (£1,880) while the level for the private sector is 3,804 Leva (£1,360).

Finance is the sector producing the highest incomes with annual average incomes of 9,951 Leva (£3,550). Employees in the hospitality sector received the lowest average income of just 2,757 Leva (£985).

The NSI reported that there are currently 673,000 people working within the public sector and 1.534m employed in the private sector.

It is little surprise, considering the low salaries, that according to research quoted by mediapool.bg, Bulgarians are the unhappiest people living within the EU.

European Commission (EC) research discovered that only 39% of Bulgarians feel happy and just 31% are satisfied with their standard of living. Healthcare worries Bulgarians the most, while rising prices, unemployment and pensions also feature among the most important problems.

Nearly one third of them believe that their standard of living will worsen during 2007, research showed, while another 44% said that their life will remain unchanged in the next 12 months.

Bulgarians also believe that having good luck was more important than working hard, mediapool.bg reported.

Meanwhile, the research discovered that Danes are the happiest EU citizens, followed by the Dutch, Belgians and Irish.

Property prices in Cyprus climb 2.6% in January

In January 2007, house prices in Cyprus recorded an increase of 2.6% over the previous month, according to the BuySell Home Price Index. The average home price reached CY£93,288 (GB£108,400), representing a rise of 8.7% year-on-year.

The BuySell Home Price Index is updated monthly on behalf of BuySell Cyprus Real Estate by the independent economic research organisation S. Platis Economic Research.

37-floor Financial Towers to be built in Karachi

Sharjah's Enshaa Holdings and its Pakistani joint venture partner the National Logistics Corporation have launched a 37 storey twin-tower project in Karachi. The Karachi Financial Towers will feature a built-up area of 1.4m sq ft as well as commercial space of 1.1m sq ft and retail space of 75,000 sq ft, with room to accommodate 1,850 cars. Enshaa NLC obtained the land for the development from Pakistan Railways via an open bidding process.

Belgium to support new railway line in East Africa

The East African countries of Tanzania, Burundi, and Rwanda including the Democratic Republic of Congo will benefit from a pledge by Belgium to support the construction of a railway line to those countries.

This move follows a request by Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete during discussions with Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Didier Reynders.

According to reports, the Tanzanian leader told Reynders - who doubles as his country’s Finance minister - that the African Development Bank had agreed to do a feasibility study on the project.

President Kikwete said the construction of the railway line was of crucial importance to the four countries particularly now that Rwanda, Burundi and the DRC are no longer war zones.

“Currently, the Great Lakes Region is peaceful. We are now putting emphasis on opening up economic relations and trade among the countries. This railway line will be one of the major facilities to speed up our economic development for our countries and our people”, he added.

The ministers responsible for the development of transport and infrastructure in the four countries are expected to meet in Tanzania next month to discuss the logistics of implementing the project.

Other initiatives that Belgium has agreed to support include the removal of mud from the Tanzanian side of Lake Tanganyika, just as it has been doing in Burundi and the DRC. The accumulation of mud is believed to have contributed to falling water levels in the world’s deepest lake.