Skopje, 10 February 2023 (MIA) – North Macedonia is expected to host the Food Fair set to be organized by the Open Balkan initiative in 2023. The date of the fair is yet to be decided, and talks are ongoing.

Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy Ljupcho Nikolovski said Friday the Food Fair is set to be an event similar to the Belgrade Wine Fair in 2022, and the goal is for the event to become a tradition.

“This is an event which would be established as part of Open Balkan. We will initiate a meeting with the prime ministers in order to agree on a date, the decision to hold it in North Macedonia and grow into a tradition has already been discussed. The plan is for the fair to be organized in cooperation with our economic and other partners. For the event we want to use the conference room at the ‘Aleksandar Palace’ hotel, the parking and the ‘Boris Trajkovski’ sports center,” said Nikolovski at a press briefing.

He said that intensive work is being done with Montenegro over the possible enlargement of Open Balkan.

“On Sunday, I will visit Montenegro where I will meet Prime Minister Abazović and the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of agriculture. We will hold a series of activities exclusively related to Open Balkan. There is a huge desire there for us to present our data on the decrease of waiting time at the border, increase in transportation and the value of cooperation… We will present all of that information. We are discussing the issue with Montenegro directly and openly,” said Nikolovski.

Our larger companies, he said, want Montenegro as a partner as well.

“They constantly note that they are no longer required to submit 26 types of documents, the process has been significantly accelerated, and they constantly point to the benefits of Open Balkan. They especially want to see Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina join,” stressed the Minister.

Nikolovski noted that the political invites for the enlargement of Open Balkan are still valid for the rest of the countries in the region. ad/ik/