The Ambassador of the Republic of North Macedonia visited the BCCI

The Chairman on the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Tsvetan Simeonov had a meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of North Macedonia to Bulgaria, Agneza Rusi Popovska. The meeting was attended by Dragan Alchinov, third Secretary at the Embassy and Plamen Pavlov, chairman of the Bulgarian-Macedonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Main topic of the discussion was the condition of the economic cooperation between Bulgaria and North Macedonia. Ambassador Popovska stated that the bilateral exchange of goods was increased /about 30% 2022/2021/, but still much under the possibilities. There are undeveloped possibilities of great potential in the economies of both countries for the expansion of trade and investment. Mr. Simeonov pointed out that businesses have been increasingly interested in working on certain projects. Both sides agreed that the most urgent areas to take measures in were the communications, the transport and the border services. The chairman of the BCCI maintained that the Bulgarian companies were interested in bringing in skilled workers from North Macedonia, the potential sectors of cooperation being the ICT and tourism.

The activities of the Bulgarian-Macedonian and Macedonian-Bulgarian commercial and industrial chambers were highly appreciated in response to the needs of companies from both countries.

It was agreed that more clearly pragmatic steps were needed to strengthen the bilateral cooperation. It is important to organize a business forum at least once annually plus meetings at company levels. Another similar type of event is being considered for Bulgaria for the second half of 2023, the goal being the discussion of specific projects for expansion on cooperation.