Macedonia and Czech Republic sign Economic Cooperation Agreement

Macedonia and the Czech Republic signed Wednesday a protocol defining the guidelines of the countries' economic and trade relations as part of the first-ever two-day session of the mixed committee for bilateral economic cooperation.

Czech Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Milan Hovorka and Macedonia's Deputy Economy Minister Hristijan Delev signed the document and also served as co-chairs of the session, MIA reports from Prague.

At a meeting, they reviewed the potentials of the countries' economies and discussed future agreements for cooperation that are of mutual interest.

The joint committee comes as a result of the agreement on economic and industrial cooperation between the Macedonian and Czech governments signed in 2010.

"We are aware that we need to create an environment in which an economic cooperation will be enabled. Our objective is to establish a framework in which Czech and Macedonian companies will function as partners," Deputy Minister Hovorka told local media.

Underscoring his country's support for Macedonia's EU integration bid, the Czech Minister said the mixed committee discussed ways for providing assistance considering the fact that the Czech Republic was an EU member.

"The Czech Republic wants concrete cooperation with Macedonia in areas in which our EU integration experience would be of mutual interest, because sooner or later nothing will stand in the way between Macedonian manufacturers and their competitors in the Union," Hovorka stressed.

The Czech official added that huge potentials for cooperation existed in the field of energy, renewable resources, automotive industry, environment and agriculture.

During his visit to Prague, Deputy Minister Delev met with businessmen to promote Macedonia's investment opportunities.

The Macedonian delegation also paid a visit to the Czech automotive industry "Skoda" to meet with the company's management.

Czech Republic to use Macedonia's official name

Foreign Minister Nikola Poposki sent a letter of gratitude to his Czech colleague Karel Schwarzenberg over the decision of the Czech Republic to affirm and make official its practice thus far to use Macedonia's constitutional name in the bilateral communication.

Macedonia highly appreciates the Czech Republic support of Macedonia since its independence It particularly welcomes the support  within the European Union for prompt launching of Macedonia's EU accession talks, the letter reads.

This decision of the Czech authorities is yet another proof of the excellent relations and a special friendly gesture towards further deepening of the confidence and friendship between the two countries, MoFA said in a press release.

Czech Airlines suspending Prague-Skopje flights

The Czech airline CSA will suspend its direct flights between Skopje and Prague and vice versa by the end of the 2011/2012 winter season i.e. on March 24, MIA reported from the Czech capital.
"Prague-Skopje direct flights are unfortunately not profitable. Moreover, the direct flights are not incorporated into the main model used by Czech Airlines, its spokesperson Hana Hejskova told local media.
The Skopje-Prague-Skopje direct flight was introduced on 17 May 2005. Prague was promoted as one of the most popular European destinations connecting passengers with several cities worldwide.
The Czech national airline ended 2011 with a decrease in the number of passengers by 7.5%, which is a result of company's efforts to cut down air-crafts and flights as a way to tackle the current crisis.