President Stevo Pendarovski addressed today the first annual conference “Skopje Economic and Financial Forum” on “Economic Recovery and Growth beyond Covid”, organized by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of North Macedonia.
In his address, President Pendarovski pointed out that this topic is debated intensively and thoroughly around the world and said that it is most important that all discussions are conducted on the basis of real data, in order for economic policy makers to propose solutions. He spoke of world economies and said that they experienced huge downslides in their GDPs, stock shocks and losses in almost all industries and stressed that all countries in the world are still struggling to protect the health of their citizens, but also to neutralize the harmful economic consequences.
“The global economy is still very fragile, and the challenges are great. Unlike last year, the general economic forecast has improved, although the recovery, as expected, is slow”, President Pendarovski said.
The President also referred to our economy, which he said is not an exception to world trends and pointed out the measures taken, aimed at minimizing losses in the economy and helping the most vulnerable sectors.
“It is clear that the losses are huge and it will take time for the Macedonian economy to recover, which even before the pandemic was experiencing troubles. However, what is important is that we already have enough information and analysis to assess which decisions were wrong and should not be repeated, and which yielded positive effects”, the President said in his address.
President Pendarovski stressed that our membership in NATO, in addition to the security component, in the medium and long term is expected to result in greater economic stability and predictability, as well as new perspectives in the investment area. He also spoke about the stalemate in our EU integration, emphasizing that it was caused by a blockade, whose arguments are contrary to the values represented by the European Union as a concept. The President said that the path to full EU membership is a priority because for European values and the principles on which the common European market is based, for us, there is no better alternative.
In his address, in addition to the blows to the economy, President Pendarovski noted the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of political stability and trust in institutions, in terms of governance and the rule of law and solidarity of the rich with the poor. He said that as individual states we are not isolated enclaves and that joint action is needed globally.
“Undoubtedly, immunization is the key factor for overcoming the crisis and in that process, a slow pace and uneven distribution of vaccines must not be allowed”, President Pendarovski said.
At the end of the address, President Pendarovski said that without solid and continuous investment in human capital, the economic development cannot be sustainable and added that for that purpose a precondition is to support young people who are educated and create in the country. He stressed that the society is obliged to develop the potential of young people and invest in their ideas.
“I believe that in the post-Covid period we will have a set of political and economic measures that will encourage production of new, fresh concepts in that regard, President Pendarovski said in his address at the Skopje Economic and Financial Forum.
