Minister of Trade Ömer Bolat and his delegation, as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, attended the Turkey-North Macedonia Business Forum, organized by the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEİK) and the North Macedonia Chamber of Commerce in the capital Skopje, under the auspices of the Ministry of Commerce of the Republic of Turkey and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of North Macedonia. and Minister of Foreign Trade Timço Mucunski, Minister of Economy and Labor Besar Durmişi, Turkey’s Ambassador to Skopje Fatih Ulusoy, business people from both countries and many guests. attended.
In his speech at the forum, Mucunski said that Turkey is an important strategic partner of North Macedonia.
Stating that the forum offers an extraordinary opportunity to establish and develop direct cooperation between businessmen from the two countries, Mucunski said, “I expect today’s forum to have a positive impact on further intensifying mutual economic relations and raising them to a higher level.” he said.
Emphasizing that their priority as the government is to develop cooperation with traditional partners such as Türkiye, Mucunski stated that the trade volume between the two countries is making upward progress and it is predicted that the 1 billion dollar threshold will be exceeded.
Sharing the information that around 2 thousand Turkish companies have invested in North Macedonia, Mucunski added that Turks were among the tourists who visited North Macedonia the most this year.
“38 PERCENT OF FOREIGN INVESTMENTS BELONG TO TURKISH INVESTORS”
Minister of Economy and Labor Durmişi also pointed out that North Macedonia has always had excellent cooperation with Türkiye and Turkish companies.
Stating that the relations between Turkey and North Macedonia provide both countries with common access to new markets, Durmişi said, “The Republic of Turkey is a country that is among our most important trade partners and constantly invests in the North Macedonian economy in various sectors as our strategic investment partner. Our data is based on the past “This year shows that Turkey ranks seventh in the list of countries with which North Macedonia has the largest trade volume.” he said.
Durmişi hoped that the cooperation between the two countries would deepen in the future and said, “Total investments in North Macedonia reach 2 billion euros. Turkish investors have a share in 38 percent of foreign investments in our country.” he said.
“THE UPDATED TALKS OF THE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT EXCITED US”
Speaking at the forum, DEİK President Nail Olpak stated that, as DEİK, they have been operating with the slogan of “commercial diplomacy” with 152 business councils spread all over the world for 39 years, with the support and coordination of the Minister of Commerce, and said, “We were excited about the update negotiations of the Free Trade Agreement (with North Macedonia).” he said.
President of the Turkish Contractors Association, Erdal Eren, pointed out that contracting services are one of the main fields of activity in which Turkey has a high competitiveness and a worldwide reputation, especially in the last 50 years, and said, “As of today, we have completed more than 12 thousand projects worth 523 billion dollars in 137 countries of the world. We are proud of that.” he said.
Tamer Kıran, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), stated that they followed the accession process of North Macedonia to the European Union (EU) with pleasure and said, “The realization of the reforms required by the accession process will further strengthen the economy of North Macedonia, increase its competitiveness and increase the competitiveness of the people.” It will contribute to the development of the level of welfare.” he said.
Branko Azeski, President of the North Macedonian Chamber of Commerce, also sent a video message to the forum, emphasizing the excellent cooperation with Turkish companies operating in the North Macedonian market.
Source: www.star.com.tr
