On May 9-12, the coastal town of Orikum near Vlora, will host a very important event, the first edition of Balkan Sea Fair, which promises to become a premier platform for exhibitors to showcase their expertise and connect with key players in the naval, maritime, and sailing industries across Albania and the Balkans.

This event is an unmissable opportunity for businesses in shipbuilding, metal carpentry, mechanics, automotive, furniture, electromechanics, motor engineering, and plant engineering to present their innovations to a targeted audience. Retailers, manufacturers, and service providers will find the perfect environment to network, generate leads, and explore new business opportunities. Additionally, investors and professionals in boat restoration, repair, and maintenance will discover valuable insights into the region’s growing maritime sector.

Albanian Daily News spoke with one of the key sponsors and participants of this event, Roberto Perocchio.

Mr. Perocchio spent a lifetime in the yachting business, being the oldest member of the board of Confindustria Nautica, the Italian yacht builders’ association, and President of Assomarinas, the Italian association of marinas which is a member of Confindustria Nautica (owner of the Genova Yacht Show, the biggest in the Mediterranean) and of Federturismo Confindustria (the federation of Italian tourism enterprises).

Assomarinas covers all Italy, from Sicily to Liguria, and has 98 marina members, some of which are the biggest Italian marinas, like Sanremo Portosole, or Marina D’Arechi, or marina Punta Faro.

Italy is one of the world’s leading countries in Yachting, it’s the global leader in the production of yachts over 24 meters of length, it’s a leader in the production of boating accessories and in RIBS, the Rigid Inflatable Boats. It’s also one of the European leading countries in the field of marinas, with nearly 200.000 berths spread among professional marinas and yacht clubs, and many new projects under construction.

Italy will also host in Venice, in October, with the cooperation of Assomarinas, the next World Marinas Conference (www.worldmarinasconference.com) of Icomia, the International Council of Marine Industries Associations, inside which Assomarinas has always been very active together with Confindustria Nautica.

- Mr. Perocchio, in which way do the Marinas contribute in the development of the nautical sector in Albania?

-The international yachting community has long waited for Albania to develop yachting infrastructures and a yachting friendly legislation, and Assomarinas has perceived that the country is now ready to become a very interesting yachting destination, thanks to many relevant projects like the Durres new waterfront, the marina project in Saranda and the expansion plan in Orikum.

Coast and sea and historical sites are very attractive in Albania, the landscape is beautiful, the food excellent, the ferry lines and the flight connections are quickly growing together with the car rental services, which are the basic conditions to fill up marinas with international guests, like it happened in Croatia and Montenegro.

Albania has a strategic position in the Mediterranean, at the center of many navigation routes, and marinas will be very useful to connect the mainland to the coastal visitors.

- Assomarinas will open the conferences of the rich program of the BSF. What will your speech be about?

-During the opening conference, I will be glad to make a speech, together with our assistants, about the trends of yachting and marinas in the Mediterranean and in Italy, providing our impression on the choices and the planning that Albania is doing in this field, together with our suggestions concerning management and marketing of the destinations, based on many years of experience and on the variety of customers. /ADN