Special Co-ordinator Erhard Busek commended the governments of FYR Macedonia and BiH for their active pursuit of free trade, the most recent evidence of which was the signing in Skopje today of a free trade agreement between these two countries.
The agreement, which was concluded after some intense negotiations, is part of the network of bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) that is gradually being put in place in South East Europe until the end of 2002 (see table below for details). This network is a key output of the Memorandum of Understanding on Trade Liberalisation and Facilitation (MoU) that was signed by seven countries in South East Europe under the auspices of the Stability Pact in June 2001. Moldova has associated itself with this MoU through a statement of intent.
Erhard Busek took the opportunity to congratulate the Signatory Countries on the dynamic pace of negotiations and reiterated the full support of his office for their efforts. Of the 21 planned agreements, 5 were signed before the MoU (some are currently under revision), 4 have been signed since the MoU and 9 are under active negotiation. All agreements will be in conformity with WTO rules and in line with the respective partnership of the individual countries vis-à-vis the European Union.
In congratulating the Macedonian Minister of Economy, Mr Besnik Fetai, he noted that Macedonia has consistently maintained its policy of vigorously pursuing FTAs with its neighbouring countries. In addition, the Macedonian Ministry of Economy has chaired the Stability Pact Working Group on Trade, Liberalisation and Facilitation since its establishment in 2000. He also applauded the efforts of the BiH government which has now signed two FTAs since the beginning of 2002.
The implementation of the network of bilateral free trade agreements will create an enlarged export market of roughly 55 million consumers in SEE. This process, together with the Autonomous Trade Preferences granted by the European Union to SEE countries in late 2000, is expected to attract more investment to the region. A regional free trade regime is instrumental in creating more open economies that can also benefit from the competitive advantages that prevail in all countries of Southeastern Europe, namely low labour costs and well-educated workforces.