Skopje, 1 June 2023 (MIA) – Regional connectivity through Open Balkan is giving results and this is a very clear sign that the participating countries should work even harder to establish stronger ties, was the assessment Thursday of the participants at the "Grow Up" regional agribusiness conference taking place at Kopaonik, Serbia.

In his address, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy, Ljupcho Nikolovski said that North Macedonia, as well as Serbia, will focus on the processing industry and final products in the coming period.

“Open Balkan should be based on the topic of the quality of products that we will place on the market,” said Nikolovski, as reported by “Politika”.

Nikolovski pointed to tobacco, wine and products from the processing industry as the most important strategic products that achieve record-high export results. The Minister said 2020 was a record year for the country’s trade with Serbia, and he believes that it will continue to grow and producers should be encouraged to join.

“The procedures of waiting at the border crossings have been shortened, and the recognition of green certificates and analyses has been implemented,” said Nikolovski.

The Serbian Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, Jelena Tanasković, said the Open Balkan initiative has demonstrated its importance, adding that she sees the initiative as preparation for EU accession.

“Just the three members of the initiative, have managed to save up to 30 million hours because of the lack of holdup for goods and the free movement agreement. According to the World Bank’s assessment, the savings of the Open Balkan initiative are around EUR 3 billion, half of which go to Serbia,” said Tanasković, adding that these figures undoubtedly show the importance of their unity.

The regional conference in Kopaonik is organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Serbian Chamber of Commerce. Some of the key topics at the conference, attended by more than 300 participants, were digitization of agriculture, financing agriculture and the impact of climate change on agriculture.

Photo: MIA Archive