Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski addressing Monday the Western Balkans Investment Summit 2022 held at EBRD HQ in London said that North Macedonia is the destination for investors to invest their money, informs news agency MIA.
The country provides investors with the stable macroeconomic environment, stable currency for two decades and provides investors with very attractive fiscal stimuli, which is valid for both domestic and foreign investors.
“The investors first would ask two questions, the first is the macroeconomic stability and the second is ease in doing business and support infrastructure which exists in the country. On the first question, North Macedonia provides investors with the stable macroeconomic environment, the level of investments is 60 percent of GDP and even Standard & Poor’s and Fitch confirm the stable credit rating of the country with a stable outlook as well. Even in times of crisis employment rate was decreased. The inflation rate in 2021 despite the electricity price increase was kept at the low level,” Kovachevski said in regard to investment opportunities during Q&A session including six prime ministers of Western Balkans.
PM Kovachevski said that North Macedonia provides investors with very attractive fiscal stimuli, which is valid for all investors, especially those investors that are coming in the automotive and IT industry, and other investments in industrial revolution 30 and 40.
“Our currency is stable and it is the anchor and pillar of macroeconomic policy we have for years. This was the case in the past two decades and it will continue in the future as well. It is important that we have flat tax rate of 10% as for all other investors, one of the lowest VAT of 18%, very simple and fast procedures for staring new businesses and already adopted regulation on dual education. This we find very important because one of the obstacle that occur after big waves of investments in work intensive industries is lack of workforce and therefore we introduced dual education in many schools, which helps the human capital but also helps investors to have approach to ask for workforce,” Kovachevski said.
Language proficiency, accompanied by state aid government programmes and in the country foreign and domestic investors are equalized on the programmes for support, he said.
“Programmes are set in a very transparent way and support is directed into new employment, cooperation with domestic subcontractors, support of companies which intend to establish technology improvement, meaning new machinery procurement, new technology process implementation, and productivity increase. All of these created the environment in the country, which managed to rebound after negative pandemic first year, so in 2021 we manage to recover the economy especially in the second, and the quarters, which were following. 2022 as per our analyses and analyses of the international financial institutions has also a very positive outlook and this would be for the years to come. From a perspective of stability and a country going forward, North Macedonia is the destination for investors to invest their money,” Kovachevski noted.
Referring to country’s top priorities, Kovachevski said that the country prepared in 2021 growth acceleration plan as part of our economic policy plan.
“This growth acceleration plan is umbrella document which encompasses financing sources together with mechanism to improve better implementation of the investments. The focuses are in energy transformation, increasing the digitalization capabilities in institutions in touch points with the citizens and infrastructure in roads and highways. At this moment the biggest projects are Corridor 8 the connection of North Macedonia with Bulgaria and North Macedonia with Albania, both in terms of highway and express roads and railways, plus digital connection. Electricity connection between North Macedonia and Albania. Very important is the gas interconnector with Greece as this will provide energy not only transformation but diversification of sources and will give possibility for the other countries of the Western Balkans to connect to this pipeline, this is an investment which is coming in the Alexandroupolis energy terminal,” he said.
“Our health sector is ready for financing, then investment in education and science which is connected with other industries, development of software. Energy transformation into green implementation of photovoltaic, wind plant investments which already has been started in implement and some are in project phases,” Kovachevski said.
EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso also address the conference who said that unity is essential in times of Russia-Ukraine conflict and EBRD played key role through financing in the region of the Western Balkans.
“Western Balkans is very good place to investing, and the participation of six prime ministers at this event sends very powerful message to the rest of the world but the importance attached to regional cooperation and their place in Europe. EBRD is ready to help and is very reliable partner for economic development of the region of Western Balkans and EU is our key partner. EBRD continues investing more than 1 billion euros every year,” Renaud-Basso said opening the conference.
She underlined that EBRD’s main goal is green transition, decarbonization and digitalization of Western Balkans and noted that in conditions of energy crisis they should focus more on the installation of solar panels for the production of clean electricity.
“We will continue to create favourable business climate in Western Balkans,” she said, adding very soon she plans to visit the six Balkan countries.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Várhelyi said that today that never before has been the stability and the security of the Western Balkans been so important than it is today. In addition, we are here today not only to maintain the stability and peace in the Western Balkans but also to strengthen, deepen it and expand it.
“EBRD is key partner of the Western Balkans and it has already invested around 8.3 billion euros in a total of 67 projects covering areas of digitalisation, energy, environment, transport… EBRD will remain crucial partner in the future, especially for the Economic and Investment Plan launched in October 2020 to support post-pandemic socio-economic recovery, but also to speed up closing the gap between the EU and the Western Balkans. We hope that the today’s initiative will improve this process,” Várhelyi said.
He announced that over the next years, we are ready to mobilize up to 30 billion euros of investments in the Western Balkan countries, which is one third of the GDP of the entire region.
“We will help our partners to cope with energy crisis, ensure safe energy supply for growing economy and put conditions in place that make young generations stay in the region. Our investment plan is development of the region of Western Balkans and without regional cooperation, this cannot be achieved. The most important is the regional cooperation. The Western Balkans naturally belongs to Europe and we will help as much as we can for that to become a reality as soon as possible,” Várhelyi said.
