President Stevo Pendarovski, speaking at Thursday’s business meeting between Macedonian and Croatian businesspeople in Zagreb, called for joining forces to return to normal and improve performances in bilateral economic cooperation.
Thursday’s business meeting, which is taking place on the second day of Pendarovski’s official visit to Croatia, is organized in cooperation with the Croatian Chamber of Commerce. The Macedonian business delegation includes officials of the Association of Chambers of Commerce. Talks focus on the potential for continuing pre-pandemic cooperation, as well as new investment opportunities.
President Pendarovski noted that the pandemic has caused enormous damage to the economies of the two countries, voicing hope that the hardest-hit sectors, including tourism, would very soon return to normal, with the opening of the borders. Therefore, he stressed, vaccination against COVID-19 is particularly important, adding that it’s good that the percentage of vaccinated citizens in both countries is high.
“Without vaccination there’s no sure development of the economy and return to what was before. Your percentage of vaccinated citizens is slightly higher than ours, but I can say that in North Macedonia too there is a significantly more massive phase of immunization, and I expect that in the next month or so we’ll have the majority of citizens vaccinated. The doors are slowly opening for returning to the previous paths,” Pendarovski said.
According to the President, figures in trade cooperation have dropped over the past year, but the intention of the business community on both sides is to bring it even above pre-pandemic levels.
“Optimistic scenarios for the Macedonian and the Croatian economies are that Q4 of 2021 could bring higher rates of economic growth, and practically herald developments in the next year when we could expect a full return to the economic potential as it was before 2020,” said Pendarovski.
He mentioned that the economic policies in the period of the pandemic were adapted to the health crisis, adding that both in Croatia and in North Macedonia, six sets of anti-crisis measures were adopted.
“In this direction, we’ll continue to stimulate the particularly affected sectors,” Pendarovski pointed out.
As regards the economic cooperation between the two countries, as well as with the other countries in the region, he noted, it’s clear that the pandemic is not the only reason why economic cooperation is not at an even higher level.
“In our economy it’s clear that not everything depends on the people in the business sector. It’s clear that the stability and the integrity of the institutions are very important. The rule of law is most important, as well as reducing corruption to the lowest possible level, so that foreign investors and businesspeople could come to a country that has a predictable business climate and a stable business system that can protect their rights,” Pendarovski said.
In this sense, the President pointed out, intensive work is underway in North Macedonia given that the country is on the verge of starting negotiations with the European Union.
“After many years, I believe we can make a breakthrough in that regard,” Pendarovski said, adding that becoming a NATO member is important for business, which, among other, is a precondition for the country to be placed on the map of countries with a predictable future in which investments can be made.
