Skopje to host international business forum

Promoting the markets of Balkan countries as a single joint market is one of the goals of the Second International Business Forum organised by the Macedonian-Israeli Business Club (MIBC) in Skopje on Thursday.

The forum titled "The Balkans - Alternative Road from Israel to Europe" brings together representatives of 100 companies from Israel, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Russia, Turkey, Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia, Albania, Bulgaria and Kosovo in the field of IT, agriculture and food industry, renewable energy sources, medicine and pharmacy.

"Macedonia's market is small for foreign investors or large companies from abroad. Thus, the idea of the forum is to encourage all our neighbours from the Balkans to join forces and offer a single Balkan market to large international companies, including those from Israel," MIBC's executive director Ekaterina Dimitrovska stated on the sidelines of the event.

Deputy economy minister Hristijan Delev said the business forum was a crucial event to launch new businesses and to exchange ideas.

"The government of Macedonia supports such events and hopes that more of them will be organised in the future, because they offer a unique chance for businesses to establish contacts. There is great potential to cooperate with Israel in agriculture and energy," Delev noted.

Israel's honorary consul Viktor Mizrahi pointed out that Macedonia and Israel were fostering excellent political relations, which was not the case with economic ties.

"We are attempting business relations to reach a satisfying level. I hope that these forums will contribute to increasing foreign exchange between Israel and Macedonia," said Mizrahi.

Macedonian - Russian Business Forum

Macedonia’s Economic Chamber and the Macedonian-Russian Chamber of Commerce organise Monday a Macedonian-Russian business forum in an effort  bilateral business contacts to be established with Russian companies from several sectors including agriculture, trade, import of goods, food industry, etc.

Businessmen from the Russian region of Tambov are paying a visit to Macedonia to establish business contacts with Macedonian companies.

The Tambov region is a federal subject in Russia, located some 460 kilometers south of the capital. Its administrative center is the city of Tambov. 1,091,994 inhabitants live there according to the 2010 Census.

Macedonia-Estonia business forum in Skopje

Energy, agriculture, IT and tourism are the sectors where Macedonia and Estonia can enhance bilateral cooperation, agreed participants at Monday's business forum in Skopje.

"I am convinced that today's event will enhance existing and create new business ties between Macedonia and Estonia, through the use of prior business experience and friendly relations", said Economy Minister Valon Saraqini in the opening address.

He added that bilateral economic cooperation should increase, with today's forum representing a good opportunity for this.

Estonian Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications Juhan Parts said history was written in Skopje, expressing hope the forum was just the beginning of numerous business meetings between the two countries.

"I hope these two days will be fruitful and enable the launch of new businesses. I believe there are opportunities for enhancement of business relations in the textile and metal industries", added Parts.

Total trade exchange with Estonia in 2011 was approximately US$ 1,6 million, whereas Estonian investments in Macedonia amounted to EUR 1,22 million.

Macedonia represented at Washington Diaspora Forum

Macedonian representatives take part at the Second Annual Global Diaspora Forum, which U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton opened in Washington on Wednesday.

“By tapping into the experiences, the energy, the expertise of diaspora communities, we can reverse the so-called ‘brain drain’ that slows progress in so many countries around the world, and instead offer the benefits of the ‘brain gain’. In terms of international development and our work to reduce poverty and improve lives, this can be a game-changing effort. But that is not all. It is also a recipe for spurring greater economic growth in the United States as well. And it holds the promise of advancing strategic interests like rebuilding societies after conflicts or disasters and improving relations with key countries”, said Clinton at the forum opening.

Opportunities for utilizing the Macedonian diaspora worldwide was the topic of discussion at the meeting of Macedonian MPs with the United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD). MPs Ilija Dimovski, Aleksandar Spasenovski, Marijan Nikolov, Rexhep Ismaili and Lence Nikolovska, who are paying a study visit to the U.S. Congress, met with UMD president Meto Koloski, referring to ways for improved use of potentials of Macedonian diaspora.

MP Ivanova said SDSM supported the voting of Macedonian nationals abroad at elections in Macedonia, but added that the way in which 2011 elections were organized was not appropriate. VMRO-DPMNE’s Spasenovski voiced belief that response would improve at the next elections.

Koloski stressed public in Macedonia should be better acquainted with activities of Macedonians in the diaspora, but also with the economic effects, which are estimated at more than EUR 1 billion annually, i.e. one-fifth of the country’s GDP.