If we don’t start focusing on family values and large families by promoting them, unfortunately the Macedonian economy will be the first one to suffer a blow, Macedonian Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski said Tuesday commenting on Transport Minister Aleksandar Nikoloski’s remarks that the country may need 50,000 foreign workers by 2030 in order to maintain the current GDP level.
Responding to reporters’ questions following the launch of a project to procure 100 new ambulances, the Prime Minister reiterated his stance on the importance of family values and large families, emphasizing that the situation requires in-depth analysis.
“When I spoke about family values and fertility rates a year and a half or two years ago, I was labeled backward and regressive; people claimed I didn’t know what I was talking about, I heard all sorts of things said about me. Unfortunately, that challenge still persists. In fact, the figure mentioned by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport might even be an underestimate; we might need far more workers to sustain our economic activity,” Mickoski added.
He pointed to developments in Western Europe, where, in order to maintain economic levels and achieve a modest increase in nominal Gross Domestic Product, it is necessary to issue hundreds of thousands, or perhaps even millions, of work permits to migrants every year.
“So, no matter how much they may wish to mock me, I will remain committed to family-oriented policies, supporting large families, and to policies that secure a future for Macedonia as a country, create new jobs for Macedonian workers, and foster a more competitive, growing Macedonian economy,” stressed Prime Minister Mickoski.