Mali, North Macedonian delegation discuss economic cooperation

BELGRADE - Serbian First Deputy PM and Finance Minister Sinisa Mali met with North Macedonian Deputy PMs Ivan Stoilkovic and Aleksandar Nikoloski in Belgrade on Thursday to discuss cooperation and advancement of bilateral economic ties, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

Stoilkovic is also minister for inter-community relations while Nikoloski is minister of transport and communications.

The parties discussed capital projects that are important for regional cooperation and, in particular, the importance of building a Serbia-North Macedonia gas interconnector and a high-speed rail line to Skopje, as well as everything that can improve the citizens' quality of life and help further growth and development in the region, the statement said.

Mali informed Stoilkovic and Nikoloski of Serbia's economic indicators and noted that its economy was strong and stable.

"Compared to the Serbia from 2012, when we were on the verge of bankruptcy, today we are the region's most dominant economy and we will position ourselves even better thanks to EXPO. We continue to achieve good macroeconomic results and we were Europe's fastest-growing economy in the first half of this year and registered a record-high employment rate of 51.4 pct in Q2," he said.

He noted that Serbia was now a step away from investment-grade rating, which he said was expected to be awarded to the country in the coming months.

Mali invited North Macedonia to participate in EXPO 2027, to be hosted by Belgrade.

Stoilkovic said he was pleased with the growing cooperation between the two countries and added that North Macedonia was interested in cooperation with Serbia in all segments that were important for development of the entire region.