Skopje, 7 July 2023 (MIA) - Free Zones Authority director Jovan Despotovski said that more than 4,500 new jobs are planned from the three agreements reached in the first semester of this year alone. 

According to him, in the companies in the zones as of the middle of this year, the number of 17,000 employees has been exceeded in companies in the technological industrial development zones (TIDZ) by mid-2023. 

Despotovski told Friday's press briefing there were 16,230 employees in the zones at the end of 2022, while mid-2023 has recorded 17,047 employees. The number of employees in the first half of 2023 in the companies has increased by five percent, while compared to June 2022, an increase of 14 percent was registered. 

"We exceeded the number of 17,000 employees in the zones. We have over 800 new jobs since the beginning of the year alone. This is primarily due to the increased dynamics of employment, i.e. hiring of people due to the new contracts signed in the past years. I expect this trend to continue until the end of the year," said Despotovski, presenting the results of the Free Zones Authority's work in the first six months of 2023.

Among the key achievements and effects of the TIDZ in the first six months of 2023, are the agreements reached for investments of over EUR 280 million. In this regard, Despotovski mentioned the largest greenfield investment since the country's independence, worth EUR 205 million, with the Taiwanese company Yageo.

Despotovski stressed that the steady growth of exports continues.

"The data is encouraging, and it supports our expectations that growth will continue. Exports in the first six months reached nearly EUR 2 billion, which is an increase of 12 percent compared to the same period last year. My expectations are that this year we will reach close to EUR 4 billion in exports due to the fact that part of the capacities with which we signed contracts last year will start production and exports will maintain stable growth trend," Despotovski pointed out. 

Analysis has shown a slight drop of three percent in imports, which in turn affects increase in net exports. As of June 2023, net export is 24 percent, which is the highest level ever.

"Due to these figures and due to the increased growth of jobs, TIDZ payments in contributions alone are over EUR 25 million," said Despotovski.  

He added that since the beginning of the year, agreements of over EUR 280 million have been reached, which in the next ten years should bring over 4,600 jobs, as well as over EUR 90 million in the budget only on the basis of contributions. Also, 4 new investments with a volume of over EUR 150 million are in the final stage of negotiations. 

Despotovski also expects speeding up necessary reforms, i.e. adoption of legal amendments for TIDZ and Industrial Zones, as well as the institutional reform, i.e. the integration of the Agency for Foreign Investments into TIDZ.

In addition, TIDZ is starting a campaign to promote European jobs at home, which is specifically aimed at young people.

"The aim is to encourage more interest in the jobs opening in the zones by sharing positive examples of people already working there. To bring closer the story that everything they receive as wage, working conditions, etc. in Western countries, they can also receive at home. This is one contribution within the Government's future efforts, if not to prevent, to at least mitigate the trend of emigration," Despotovski told Friday's press briefing. 

Photo: TIDZ and MIA archive