4th April 2018, Skopje – “We strongly believe Macedonia will become NATO member country, bringing intensified investment growth, economic growth and unemployment reduction”, Minister of Finance, Dragan Tevdovski, said at “NATO and You” event held today, organized by the Ministry of Defense.
“NATO integration will bring significant benefits for the Republic of Macedonia.
Unlike in the last ten years, when the defense budget was reduced, making the country distant from the NATO standards, this year’s budget is increased”, Tevdovski pointed out.
Examples of countries having become NATO member countries show a significant investment growth following their NATO integration.
He pointed out the examples of Albania and Bulgaria. Five years before Bulgaria became NATO member country, foreign direct investments, as percentage of GDP, accounted for 7%, while five years following its NATO integration, FDIs grew to 19.7%. GDP growth surged from 3.9% to 6.8% in the same period.
During this period, Bulgaria also became EU Member State, however, the main reason for both investment growth and economic growth was the NATO integration.
As for the case of Albania, FDIs grew almost twice following its NATO integration, despite the fact that this process took place during the global financial crisis. According to the data, FDIs in Albania accounted for 5.5% as percentage of GDP five years prior it became NATO member country, while five years later, following its NATO integration, FDIs grew to 9.1%
Minister of Finance said that economic activity was expected to boost and unemployment to be significantly reduced.
It is because of the expectation for NATO integration of the Republic of Macedonia that the stock exchange index is experiencing intensified growth, Tevdovski pointed out.
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