site.btaRoundtable Looks at Ways to Promote Constructive Capital in Bulgaria, North Macedonia

A roundtable here on Tuesday looked into ways to promote constructive capital in Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia. The opportunities for increasing connectivity through investments between the two countries were discussed by Foreign Ministers Nikolay Milkov and Bujar Osmani, Bulgarian MPs Delyan Dobrev (GERB-UDF) and Daniel Lorer (Continue the Change), and representatives of the diplomatic missions of EU Member States and the United States in Bulgaria.

The participants concluded that over the last 20 years, Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia have achieved significant progress in Euro-Atlantic integration. However, both countries are facing serious challenges in governance that allow the State and the media to be taken over, affect prosperity and weaken European security. The two countries can speed up two-day trade and investments, increase the number of joint EU projects in digitization and ecological transition, finish building their railway and road connections, connect their gas and electricity networks, and create opportunities for the private sector and civil society to participate in joint public-private partnerships. 

During the roundtable, which was hosted by the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD), the CSD presented a publication with specific recommendations and financial opportunities for improving welfare in the two countries through the attraction of constructive capital from the EU and the United States.  

Minister Milkov stressed that Osmani's visit to Bulgaria is timely to support the two countries' will for constructive dialogue and to provide positive conditions for business development. Bulgaria is ready to provide technical expert opinions and assistance to speed up North Macedonia's EU accession process, just the way other Member States helped and are helping Bulgaria in its integration, the Bulgarian Foreign Minister noted.

Minister Osmani said that the two countries should make a priority the vision of being the closest partners in the region and ensuring the cooperation and understanding of citizens on both sides of the border.  He invited the events' guests to a business forum in Skopje in December, which will be co-organized with Sofia to mark the historical threshold of EUR 1 billion in common investments.