The business forum we held in Istanbul was an excellent opportunity to increase trade cooperation between Macedonia and Türkiye. At the meetings with the ministers of trade and the minister of transport, we agreed to introduce a new airline from July 2, the Ankara-Skopje route, as well as a rail cargo connection between the two countries, Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Aleksandar Nikoloski said in an interview with Sitel TV.
The Deputy PM notes that many Turkish companies are interested in investing in Macedonia, and that relations are excellent, as shown by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s welcoming ceremony of Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski.
“There is great interest from Turkish companies to invest in Macedonia, the reason is that Macedonia has a free trade agreement with the EU and an excellent agreement with the U.S. Türkiye has a problem in exporting to the European Union and certain companies are interested in investing in Macedonia. Furthermore, there is the closeness between the two peoples and the two countries and the relative proximity has good connections. Turkish Airlines has already started flying to Ohrid in addition to Skopje, and starting from July 2, AJet will start a direct flight from Ankara to Skopje. I must emphasize that it is without subsidies, which means that they did not ask for subsidies at all and I think it is good that they opened it. Together with the two ministers, the Minister of Trade, the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, we also agreed on a cargo connection between the two countries, taking into account that one leg of Corridor X starts in Istanbul and that is the shortest route for goods from Türkiye to Central Europe,” said Nikoloski.
When asked whether trade is expected to increase to $2 billion, Deputy PM Nikoloski says that this is to be expected because many Turkish companies are investing in Macedonia, and many Macedonian companies are also investing in Türkiye.
“Numerous Macedonian companies have invested in Turkey or are working in Türkiye; numerous Turkish companies have invested in Macedonia or are working in Macedonia. So it is good that this cooperation is growing, and the fact that Prime Minister Mickoski was welcomed at the highest level by President Erdogan yesterday was welcomed in the way we could best wish for a statesman from Macedonia to be welcomed with all the highest honors. This shows the relations between the two countries, it also shows the personal respect for Prime Minister Mickoski by President Erdogan, but also the relations between the two countries. So I think that this forum was overall successful and we will reap the fruits in the coming period,” Nikoloski said.
