Starting from scratch in Albania.

Long-isolated nation has a long list of transport needs, and little money or know-how to get started.

After decades of self-imposed isolation, Albania is starting on the road to developing a transportation infrastructure. But first it has to build the roads.

Five years ago, there were no private motor vehicles for freight or passenger transport in Albania. And the country's airports still look much the same as they did 50 years ago.

In the mid-eighties Albania was described by one publisher of geographical atlases as "virtually an unknown white spot on the map," because of its extreme and self-imposed isolation.

But these days, Albania, like nearly all other Eastern European countries emerging into a world that's passed them by, wants to integrate. And to integrate, Albania needs to be part of the vast …