Investment Roundtable with Prime Minister of Macedonia

The Roundtable with the Government of Macedonia on 6 Dec 2013 in Skopje was organized by EuCham – European Chamber where investors, CEOs, directors and business leaders from 9 countries discussed investment opportunities.

Video 1 youtube.com/watch?v=XJa8W7NreMw
Video 2 youtube.com/watch?v=_WNEIloGiJE

The Prime Minister Mr Nikola Gruevski explained the steps that his country has taken in supporting the inflow of international investments, with 0% corporate tax, 0% PIT, 0% labor taxes and 4-5% of GDP reinvested in education, together with a business-friendly government attitude. “The investors are satisfied with the conditions, that is why TeknoHose, Prodis, Johnson Matthey and Johnson Controls made reinvestment and build second factories” added the Prime Minister.

The President of EuCham Mr Michele Orzan emphasized the social impact of the business world, with EuCham leading the way in supporting its members in their development in business integrity and sustainability.

While appreciating Macedonian results so far, Mr Orzan pointed out that the stress should now be put on the long term sustainability of economic policies.

“A relatively small and agile country can surprise the world if its leaders really want” said Mr Orzan, suggesting the governments to make world-first choices, such as a self-adjusting tax system where taxes automatically decrease proportionally with the improvement of macroeconomic figures.

Another field where a government can be a first mover is the business-like adoption of environmental pledges such as GREENWILL, matching the corporate world and talking its same language.

When specifically pointing at areas that affect business, Mr Orzan praised the government for the improvements to be found in latest World Bank and Transparency International reports, while at the same time indicating areas where more can be done, for instance the enforcement of contracts.

Mr Vladimir Peshevski, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, mentioned that many of the ministers have a business background, and they are continually choosing only investments with long-term impact. “It is all about return on investments” said Mr Pashevski, “both investors and Macedonia must benefit from it”.
“We always make sure that the clients are happy”, said the Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Bill Pavlevski and stressed the competitive advantage of the country. “It is a new business heaven in Europe,” added Mr Viktor Mizo, CEO of the Free Zone Authority.

Mr Bogdan Macarie, Development Director of Trigranit, confirmed the business attractiveness of the country and described a future development project.
The forum continued with networking between investors and government representatives and a visit to Technological Industrial Development Zone Skopje 1.

Other reports fb.com/groups/EuCham/permalink/629884623724987
Photo album plus.google.com/photos/107773320329022832052/albums/5955441249977438577

MACEDONIAN
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