Foreign investments into the country since the beginning of 2021 total 100 million euros, of which 65 million euros within the Technological Industrial Development Zones, government spokesman Dushko Arsovski told a news conference Wednesday.

Citing information from the Directorate for Technological Industrial Development Zones, Arsovski said negotiations were underway for over 30 new investment projects to be carried out by existing and potential investors in the country.

These projects, he said, were expected to result in more than 400 million euros of investments and 8,500 new jobs.

He added that the government and the TIDZ directorate were committed to improving the business climate as well as economic performance in the zones.

“A tangible result of this dedicated work is the economic activity record set in the first and second quarters of the last four years,” Arsovski said.

“In the second quarter of 2021 alone, export activity in the industrial zones has reached 763 million euros, which is 140 percent higher than during the same time last year.

“That’s 140 percent higher than last year, 12 percent higher than in 2019, and about 27 percent higher than in 2018.”

He also pointed out that the export activity in June 2021 was the highest on a monthly basis over the past four years. It reached 239 million euros, 25 million more than in June 2020.