Corridor VIII: a historic moment or an opportunity not to be missed?

On February 18, 2026, Tirana will host the Corridor VIII Ministerial and Economic Forum – a development of strategic importance for regional connectivity and European integration.

Corridor VIII is more than infrastructure. It is a West-East-West geo-economic axis, connecting the Adriatic with the Black Sea and the Mediterranean with the Eurasian space and repositioning the region on the map of trade, energy and investment. For Albania, this means more than linear infrastructure. It means functional integration of ports, railways, roads and economic zones into a single development architecture.

At this point, a fundamental question arises: Does the ambition of Corridor VIII match the current reality of Albanian ports?

Historic Port of Durrës and the Port of Vlora (1928) are natural strategic nodes of this corridor. If we develop corridors without consolidating their gateways, we risk fragmentation of the logistics chain and loss of our geographical advantage.

So, this moment raises a fundamental question:

If we offer development without strong and sustainable ports, what value does the fact that Albania is considered a strategic hub have? A hub for what?

A corridor does not live only from roads and railways. It gains meaning through functional gateways and exits, integrated into competitive logistics chains. Historic Durrës and the Port of Vlorë (1928) are not simply infrastructural legacies; they are key points of our economic architecture.

If there is no coherence between national vision, territorial planning and port capacities, we risk remaining a formal transit – not a real center of added value.

This is a historic moment to conceive of Albania not only as a passage, but as an economic platform between markets. As a space where Albanian entrepreneurship – at home and abroad – connects to global investment, production and innovation networks. Corridor VIII can be a real bridge between markets and entrepreneurship anywhere in the world – including the diaspora as a factor of investment, capital and knowledge. But this requires coherence between national vision, territorial planning and port capacities.

Connectivity is not a matter of kilometers. It is a matter of strategy and vision.

The discussion on this issue today is necessary, not only at the Corridor VIII Economic Forum, but also at the national level – because strategic coherence determines our position tomorrow.

By Luiza Hoxhaj

14.02.2026