London, 18th July 2013 (MIA) – On the business forums held, companies engaged in IT, tourism, spa-tourism and car industry in Great Britain showed interest in investing in Macedonia. Contacts are in the initial stage with some of the companies, meetings were held previously with part of them, and Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Zoran Stavreski, expects for part of the companies to make real investments in Macedonia next year.
– During the past four days we visited the four main cities in Great Britain – London, Leeds and Liverpool, and we also visited Manchester, where we presented the investment opportunities so as to present the Republic of Macedonia to the English investors and for they to hear about the advantages our country offers. I can say that the companies are quite interested, in particular in the attractive tax policy, low taxes, improvements in the conditions for doing business indicated by the World Bank and in the Doing Business Report, as well as the attractiveness of Macedonia as a destination where additional tax incentives can be obtained in the free economic zones and where companies from England can operate profitably with lower costs. What is significant for us is certainly the job creation, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Zoran Stavreski, told MIA today following the closure of the visit to Great Britain.
According to him, all this gives hope that in future some of the companies they contacted will come to Macedonia to continue what they have started.
– Interest was shown for several sectors, however, it is too early to talk specifics as what kind of investments could follow. Out task here was to present what Macedonia can offer, to make the initial contacts and I believe that, on the basis of the announcements, investors from England will visit our country and that part of the issues we have talked about here will materialize and there will be some real investments, Stavreski pointed out.
He also said that during the visit, Government team visited regions which Governments from other countries rarely visit, such as Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester, where bilateral meetings were held with many companies. The Delegation was satisfied with the interest shown and the contacts made, as well as the opportunities for development of further cooperation.
Vice Prime Minister underlined that they had meetings with companies with which contacts had been made previously, and the talks with them were in a more advance stage.
– There are companies with more specific announcements, in particular in the IT sector and several other sectors, for which they had information about Macedonia and did market research. It is important for them to come to Macedonia and to have meetings with the government institutions, as well as the private sector and institutes and universities so as to see all aspects as regards the investments, to analyze the situation, and I believe that, in the course of the next year, part of these companies, which are in a more advanced stage, will decide to invest with a specific real investment and create jobs in the Republic of Macedonia, Vice Prime Minister Zoran Stavreski said.
