Skopje, 1 February 2022 (MIA) — High government officials and businesspeople taking part in the first meeting of the newly formed working group for economy, trade and innovation between North Macedonia and Bulgaria on Tuesday agreed they should strengthen business cooperation, attract more foreign investments, and accelerate building the rail and road connections between the countries, the Ministry of Finance said in a press release. According to Finance Minister Fatmir Besimi cited in the release, representatives of both countries’ chambers of commerce can play an important role in promoting economic relations between North Macedonia and Bulgaria and in increasing foreign investments into both countries. Bulgarian Minister of Innovation and Growth Daniel Lorer said efforts would be made to improve the business climate as well as to invest in innovative companies and other financial instruments. Participants in the meeting included Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Fatmir Bytyqi as well as representatives of the Economic Chamber of Macedonia, the Association of Chambers of Commerce, the Economic Chamber of North-West Macedonia, AmCham, the Delegation of the German Economy, MASIT, and the Macedonian-Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce. Representing the Bulgarian side of the working group were members of AmCham Bulgaria, the Innovation Association, the Bulgarian Association for Information Technologies, the Bulgarian Industrial Association, the Bulgarian-Macedonian Chamber of Commerce, the Bulgarian-Spanish Chamber of Commerce, the Bulgarian-Macedonian Business Club, and the French-Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce. mr/