Skopje, 16 September 2023

"In the last four decades, the globalization has contributed towards accelerated economic growth, especially in the less developed economies, including the countries of the Western Balkans trade, evident through financial and technological integration and globalization. The trade integration of the region, especially of our economy, in the EU increased significantly, with a trade integration reaching 158% of the gross domestic product, which is the highest level in the Western Balkans and the fifth in the region of Central Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Therefore, the risks for the domestic economy that arise from the intensified geoeconomic fragmentation in the last few years are of great importance," said the Governor Anita Angelovska Bezhoska at the panel discussion "Geopolitics, policy making and finance" within the platform for discussion of public policies of the Skopje Economic and Financial Forum (SEFF), which was held under the motto "Europe - YES, Europe - NOW".

The Governor referred to the benefits of trade and financial integration, which act as a catalyst for economic growth and convergence through the spillover of knowledge, technologies and finances. "Income convergence in the region, and in our case in the last two decades, has increased by nearly 20 pp of GDP, on average, or almost by twice. However, the income gap is still large - our income is still only 40% of the EU average. If we retain the historical velocity of economic growth, it will take us about 40 years to approach the EU average. Hence, strengthened structural reforms are needed in the three key segments for accelerated growth – productivity, investments/innovations and education/workforce, as well as policies that will enable adequate handling of the rising geopolitical risks, primarily reaping the benefits of the new trends in the European production chains", said Angelovska Bezhoska.

At the panel discussion, the Governor said that the region needs further integration in the EU in global terms, as well, in order to speed up the process of economic convergence. However, in this process, the risks from the intensified geopolitical developments in the last two years have been accentuated. According to the latest World Economic Forum Report, geoeconomic risk is one of the three most significant global risks, along with rising consumer prices and climate risks, both in the medium and long term. This should not surprise us because one of the main threats from geopolitical tensions is the turn in globalization, and an increasing number of imposed trade and other restrictions are already being observed.

The Skopje Economic and Financial Forum was founded by the Ministry of Finance and is an annual conference held for the third time. This year's conference was opened by the President of the Government, Dimitar Kovacevski, the Minister of Finance, Fatmir Besimi, and the European Commissioner for Budget, Johannes Hahn. The Conference was attended by representatives of international financial organizations, representatives of governments in the region and the country, diplomats, as well as representatives from the business sector and academia.