Signed Memorandum of Understanding for the Report on Foreign Trade of Macedonia 2010
On July 12, 2010, Mr. Aleksandar Shahov, Director of the USAID Business Environment Activity (BEA), together with Minister of Economy Fatmir Besimi and Rector Marjan Bojadziev of the University American College Skopje (UACS), signed a Memorandum of Understanding between BEA, the Ministry of Economy, and the UACS for preparation and publication of the Report on Foreign Trade of Macedonia 2010. This memorandum represents a formal agreement for collaboration between the three institutions.
“I would like to emphasize that up to now, five issues of the report have been published – starting from 2005 until 2009. Allow me to thank USAID’s Business Environment Activity, which has contributed professionally and financially to the preparation of previous reports,” said Minister Besimi.
BEA has assisted with the preparation and publication of the Report on Foreign Trade of Macedonia since 2006, and the USAID WTO Compliance Project provided similar assistance in 2005. Both projects did so through support for the Conference on Enhancing Macedonian Exports, which is an important forum for dialogue between the public and private sector on how to improve Macedonia’s trade policy, subsequently improving the business environment in general. The Report on Foreign Trade of Macedonia addresses interesting and current topics, including international trade, global trade flows, and Macedonia’s foreign trade. While used primarily by the business community, both the public sector and academic institutions consider the Report a good source of trade-related information.
This year’s report will be published in September 2010, prior to the Sixth Annual Conference on Enhancing Macedonian Exports 2010, and its preparation and publication will be supported by BEA in partnership with UACS.