Skopje, 16 December 2024 (MIA) - Minister of European Affairs Orhan Murtezani addressed Monday a constitutive session of the working group on establishing a model for a national screening mechanism for foreign direct investments (FDIs).

Minister Murtezani was authorized by the Government to form the working group, whose proposal for the composition of members was adopted at the last Government session.

Murtezani told working group members that establishing a national mechanism for screening FDIs is especially important for North Macedonia, not only as a confirmation that national policies follow the trends and policies of our strategic EU and USA partners, but also as confirmation that the country has the capacity to establish a legal and institutional framework to deal with potential risks to security and public order and peace, related to direct foreign investments, the Ministry of European Affairs said in a press release.

The working group is composed of chairperson Dragan Tilev from the Ministry of European Affairs, a vice-president, and 13 members with their deputies. Its task is to develop and propose a legal solution for establishing a functional national system for screening FDIs, compatible with national systems for screening investments from EU member countries and in correlation to Regulation (EU) 2019/452 framework for the screening of foreign direct investments into the EU.

Implementation of this regulation will mean that North Macedonia will conform to all the measures and sanctions of the EU's common foreign and security policy, and as a NATO member will follow sanctions established by the US Committee on Foreign Investments and other NATO partners, including the UK, which will "close” the country's territory to damaging capital. In the long run, it will provide space for creating a healthy economic fabric resistant to influences in the country, and ensuring a healthy, safe and economically prosperous society.

"Economic operators with a clean capital will feel more secure, and their competitiveness will be ensured on a national level, but also at the level of EU. We are surely moving towards a stable and prosperous future for North Macedonia, in which security and public order and peace are guaranteed. Finally, I will highlight that we especially value the support from our international partners and organizations, the US Embassy (whose representatives are also foreign members of the working group), the Center for International Private Enterprises (CIPE), Commerce Law Development Program (CLDP), and cooperation with the domestic think-tank organization Institute for Democracy Societas Civilis," Murtezani noted. ssh/ik/

Photo: Ministry of European Affairs