Speaking at a meeting with Moroccan businessmen, Gruevski highlighted the important opportunities his country could offer for Moroccan businessmen wishing to invest in Macedonia, which has attracted between 1998-2008 more than € 3 billion of direct foreign investments.

    By investing in Macedonia, Moroccan businesses can have a low-cost access to the European market which includes 650 million consumers, he said, adding that Macedonia is 4 years away from becoming a EU member state.   

    He called for exploring the different fields of cooperation provided by the two countries and intensifying contacts between Moroccan and Macedonian businessmen with the aim of carrying out joint projects.

    The Macedonian official said that his country has undertaken a series of reforms to improve business climate and investment attractiveness, underlining that the World Bank has ranked Macedonia 3rd reformer in the world.

    Macedonia provides most favourable fiscal package in Europe including notably tax exemption for businesses not exceeding ten years of activity.

    For his part, vice-president of the Moroccan business confederation (CGEM) Mohamed Tamer gave an overview of investment opportunities in Morocco and the reforms undertaken to improve business climate and spur the economic environment.
 
    Trade exchanges between Morocco and Macedonia in 2009 reached $ 1.7 million, with an increase of 6 % compared with 2008, the Macedonian official said.