The Minister of Regional Development, Mr Fikrim Damka, today participated in the meeting for the development of trilateral socio-economic relations in Skopje-Macedonia, between Turkey - Northern Macedonia - Kosovo, in cooperation with the Macedonia-Turkey Chamber of Commerce MATTO, Kosovo-Turkey Chamber of Commerce KTTO and the Association of Businessmen and Craftsmen in Macedonia-Skopje "Esnaf".

The meeting was attended by: Deputy Prime Minister for Economy of the Republic of Northern Macedonia, Fatmir Bytyqi, Ambassador of R.T. in Skopje, Hasan Mehmet Sekizkök, MATTO President, Aydoğan Ademoski, KTTO Vice President, Ayhan Demirkan, and President of Esnaf Association, Varis Xhejlani.

Minister Damka, who took the floor, said: “Supporting the existing Turkey-Northern Macedonia-Kosovo trade and investment volume is of great importance to our economies. I have no doubt that the consultations and participations that will take place in these meetings that we are here today will strengthen our economic and trade ties along with our historical and cultural ties.

As Kosovo's Minister of Regional Development, we will continue to support businesses and entrepreneurs both during and after the pandemic. Kosovo's budget for 2022 is in the process of approval by the Assembly of Kosovo. After the approval of the budget, we will submit for approval to the government the Law on Regional Development, for which we have completed our studies. With the approval of the law, we aim to offer our investors more inclusive and healthy investment opportunities in our regions. Thus, I would like to emphasize that you businessmen will continue to contribute to our citizens and the business world in this new period, with your entrepreneurial, progressive, environmental, smart and sustainable investments, as well as with our support and stimulation.

We continue our efforts to increase the existing potential trade and economic volume by bringing our countries and cities closer and removing barriers in the region and to make strategic investments by providing better opportunities for investors.

In the coming days, two Deputy Prime Ministers and two Ministers will visit the Chambers of Commerce with the participation of our businessmen on the Bursa-Ankara-Istanbul line and we aim to increase investment by strengthening our cooperation.

I believe that the cooperation that will be established between the chambers of commerce, the new investment opportunities that will be created by Turkey in the Balkans and the studies planned to be carried out in the socio-economic field in the region will give tangible results in a short time.

The meeting continued with presentations on economic data and investment opportunities and closed with a cocktail party.