Director Dejan Pavleski is on a two-day visit to Istanbul, Turkey where he will have working meetings with several Turkish companies that have already shown interest in investing part of their capital in the Republic of North Macedonia.
Today and tomorrow the director Pavleski will have a business meeting with representatives of companies from the automotive, medical and HVAC industry and will present to the management teams the conditions and opportunities for doing business in the country, the advantages and legislation related to the work of foreign investors. The conditions and benefits that the Government offers to foreign investors, making North Macedonia competitive with the neighboring countries, will be presented.
The Director Dejan Pavleski, at the invitation of the Cabinet of the Prime Minister, attended the Economic Forum for Regional Cooperation, organized in coordination with the Cabinets of the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania, Edi Rama in cooperation with the Chambers of commerce of the region.
The aim of the initiative is “zero minutes waiting” and no custom duties on the borders between Serbia, North Macedonia and Albania.
Today, at the Regional Economic Forum in Skopje, the Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama signed: Memorandum of Understanding and cooperation to facilitate the import, export and movement of goods in the Western Balkans; Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation on Free Access to the Labor Market of the Western Balkans and Agreement on Cooperation for Disaster Protection and Rescue in the Western Balkans in order to facilitate trade, citizen movement and economic development.
“Our goal is an economy without borders – 100 % free trade, zero tariffs, no movement barriers, zero barriers to goods and services for our countries to have European freedom in our region,” the leaders said they added that issues are much easier to resolve when economies and business communities are united.
At the meeting of the leaders Zaev, Vucic и and Rama, the new name and logo of the Regional Cooperation Initiative – Mini Schengen, which includes Serbia, North Macedonia and Albania – was presented under new official name as “Open Balkan”, in order to remove the borders between the three countries, ‘zero minutes’ waiting at the borders for citizens and the transport of goods by year of 2023.
The Economic Forum for Regional Cooperation is organized by the Cabinet of the Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, in coordination with the Cabinets of the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania, Edi Rama, in cooperation with chambers from the region. Most of the 400 companies participating in the Forum are from the agricultural and construction sectors, food, textile and automotive industries, tourism, telecommunications, IT sector, transport and logistics.
“In 2018, 2019, 2020 the total worth of FDi is US$1.35 bn and more than US$ 5M compared to 2013 to 2017”, this is a crucial indicator of the attractiveness that our country offers to foreign investors.It also shows the stability, security and certainty for doing business in the country, stated Pavleski – an interview with Локално.мк
“Last year, despite of the global Covid crisis and recession, the level of FDI reach $233M is better than 2017 by 17%. In conditions of global reduction of FDI, we had an increase in the past years, and also in time of Covid pandemic crisis, we achieved a smaller decrease than the world average rate” pointed out Pavleski.
“There is a great potential for cooperation between local companies and foreign investors.In addition to growing the economy, it also leads to development in the application of new technologies, knowledge and standards, and it also stimulates entrepreneurship by opening opportunities for new products and services”, stated Dejan Pavleski.
Out of 40 companies – potential investors we are talking to, ten are the most interested for investing in the country. These are companies from UK, Belgium, Netherlands, USA and other countries mostly from the automotive industry and IT sector.
In the next period, I expect realization of several investments with the total worth of more than €100M and create several thousand new jobs, stated Pavleski.
For the first time, Macedonian companies have the opportunity to complete among 176 countries in the world with their business achievements for an award that will provide them with a ticket to direct entry into world business opportunities. The Go Global Awards have been organized by the International Trade Council since 1956.
Invest North Macedonia is part of awarding of companies at the international level, and the Director Dejan Pavleski is one of the 14 judges who will select the registered world companies.
Invest North Macedonia invites domestic companies to participate in this prestigious selection of the best businesses in the world. The application is until August 3, 2021, and for all interested the Invest North Macedonia offers advisory support. The selected companies will be announced on September 14, 2021, and the official selection which due to the pandemic will be held virtually is on October 5, 2021, said the Director Dejan Pavleski.
The Go Global Awards provide global recognition for the success of companies. The program aims to build a community of senior executives from around the world to support each other, share ideas, build partnerships and complement their existing knowledge and connections. The winners gain access to unique international platforms through an extensive network of International Trade Council members in 176 countries.
Applying for the Go Global Awards is free and provide the opportunity for Macedonian companies to expand their resource network, learn more about innovations and market opportunities, and personally compare themselves to their competitors.
Applications will be reviewed by 14 judges who will award 8 categories of Leadership Awards.
“2020 was a year like no other, yet businesses of all sizes, from all industries, defined the limitations of our new world and kept on. These organizations have displayed their resilience, innovated, embraced rapid technological changes, and supported their employees and communities in a way never seen before.Enterpreneurship cannot be stopped. Collaboration will always prevail. New opportunities can sometimes be found in the darknest of places,”said the International Trade Council Chairperson for South East Asia, Ranjani Rangan.
The Awards bring together hundreds of senior executives from some of the world’s most innovative manufacturers, exporters, technology firms, international service providers, venture capital firms and financial institutions.This year’s awards categories include: Accounting Services, Advanced Manufacturing, Artificial Intelligence, BioTech, Business Process Outsourcing , CleanTech, Construction,eCommerce, edTech, Electronics, Energy, Export Promotion, Fashion, Finance,Information Technology, HealthTech, Hospitality, Legal Services, Logistics,Manufacturing, Marketing, Market Research, MedTech, Mining, Packaging, Pharma, Professional Services, PropertyTech, Retail, Robotics,Shipping, Supply Chain Management, Tourism, Trade Finance, Mining & Wholesale.
In 2019, 3952 companies from 161 countries applied for the Go Global Awards, 91 companies from 18 countries received awards.
Тhe Director, Dejan Pavleski met Mr. Stefan Peter, the President of the Council of Foreign Investors, as well as the Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce Dr. Jelisaveta Georgieva – Jovevska and Mrs. Emilija Todorovska, expert and ISO coordinator in the Chamber.
Current trends in the economy, the perceptions of foreign investors about the conditions for doing business in North Macedonia, the role and importance of the Agency in the assistance and support of existing investments and attracting new investors was discussed at the meeting.
It was jointly concluded that it is particularly important to increase the cooperation with local suppliers and universities, to encourage research and development activities, as well as to continuously improving services to investors in the post-investment period.
The Council for Foreign Investors at the Economic Chamber of North Macedonia is presented by 130 companies with 50,000 employees in various industries throughout our country, and with a total turnover of €5bn.
It was agreed to further intensify mutual cooperation by setting common goals, priorities and activities.
The director of Invest North Macedonia, Dejan Pavleski met Mr. Joanis Smirilis, Secretary General of International Economic Affairs in MFA Greece.
Opportunities for joint projects and strengthening the regional cooperation related to investments and trade were discussed at the meeting. They agreed to take activities between Invest North Macedonia and ENTERPRISE GREECE in the following period as a result of the signed Memorandum of Understanding on investment and trade cooperation between the two Agencies in January 2021.
