Mayor of Porto receives Excellence in Leadership Award in Kosovo

Invited to participate this week in the Kosovo-Portugal Business Forum in Pristina, the Mayor of Porto will be honoured with the Excellence in Leadership Award. Taking advantage of the award ceremony at UBT University, Rui Moreira will also sign a cooperation agreement with the Kosovar city of Prizren. Before the official visit to Kosovo, there was a meeting in Tirana with Albanian counterpart Erion Veliaj and several local ministers.

At the invitation of the Kosovo ambassador in Lisbon, Ylber Kryeziu, the Mayor will speak at the business forum, an event that aims to promote future partnerships that contribute to the economic growth of the two countries and participate in a panel discussion on business and investment opportunities.

Companies from sectors such as renewable energies, construction and infrastructure, food and wine, health, information, communication and electronic technologies and tourism will attend this forum.

In Kosovo, Rui Moreira will also sign an agreement with Prizren in the economy, culture and tourism areas.

The visit of the Mayor of Porto includes a visit to Tirana, at the invitation of his Albanian counterpart, to start a work programme between the two cities. Erion Veliaj referred to Rui Moreira as a Mayor 'who is serving as a model in Europe for the transformation of the city'.

The Mayor of the Albanian city said he was 'hopeful that this union with the city of Porto will help us learn about tourism, sustainable city management, public transport, art and culture promotion as a way of boosting the economy'.

In turn, Rui Moreira praised the choice of Tirana as the Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue in 2025, and shared the 'enthusiasm of being able to help promote other cities', congratulating Erion Veliaj 'for what he is doing here'.

Aligned with his counterpart, the Mayor added that 'there are many things we can do together', taking advantage of the 'tradition of being countries that have bigger neighbours'. For Rui Moreira, 'this means that we must always fight for success'.

The Mayor of Porto also met with the Minister of Agriculture, Anila Denaj, who showed her interest in learning more about the success of Port Wine and in sharing Porto's knowledge in promoting the wine sector.

The programme for the visit to Albania also includes meetings with the Minister of Tourism and Environment, Mirela Kumbaro, the Secretary of State for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Megi Fino, and the Minister of State for Local Administration, Arbjan Mazniku.