Category: Macedonia

Finally, after months of distractions, I’ve put more effort to make my portal at www.msi.gov.mk look up to date. I’ve included most of the key items to drive information to the right audiences. When I looked at the value-added to this, I started from the audience: foreign companies I’m currently targeting, foreign companies looking for more info on Macedonia, local Macedonian companies who want to meet foreign partners, job candidates, and finally the usual press and others.

The model for the site were the top-5 strategy consulting firms, VC firms and other PE shops. What we do, provide business and investment opportunities to foreign companies in Macedonia, is very similar to these sites. We have a small, but very active team of analysts, for which we always recruit. We target some of the largest manufacturing and service companies by employing consultative approach. Companies often are interested to identify Macedonian suppliers or partners. Furthermore, there is a need to understand the general competitiveness of Macedonia, ie, where we do and where we can’t help. Macedonia is as competitive as China in manufacturing today, and as competitive as India in outsourcing. Finally, we provide information on our past and future target visits, interviews and press activities.

I believe we still have some work and improvement to provide to the site. It should be a big help to various audiences to get in touch with us. Please check it out and see if there are any suggestions.

Cheers!
yippi-ka-yea-muthafa….whaat!?

I should have published this back in late May when it happened, but better late then never. After working on this project over the past year and a half, I can finally say this:

The Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia today (May 28, 2008) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with executives from the French company Montupet S.A. for an investment project in Macedonia. Montupet will build a plant in the Free Economic Zone near Skopje, Macedonia to produce aluminum cylinder heads for automobile manufacturers. The plant, which will employ up to 500 people in the first phase, will be part of an initial investment of 55 million euros. Montupet plans to initiate construction by the end of 2008 and be operational in 2010. Macedonia was chosen in competition with a number of regional sites in Bulgaria and Romania, among others.

Montupet is third in a row Tier 1 supplier which has chosen Macedonia, following the likes of Johnson Controls and Johnson Matthey. This momentum over the past 2 years confirms the competitive position of Macedonia. I initiated discussions with Montupet in February of 2007, and focused constantly on the developments and opportunities with this company but also with the automotive sector in general as part of my mission to attract companies to invest in Macedonia.

Today, Macedonia has one of the best tax regimes in Europe, at 10% flat corporate and personal rates, and lowest wages with high unemployment of skilled people. When combined with excellent logistics to Europe and Turkey, and Government incentives, Macedonia presents a sustainable investment destination for European manufacturers.

Montupet works in partnership with many of the major European and American automobile manufacturers and is acknowledged as a world leader in the design, development and manufacture of aluminum cylinder heads, as well as being a major supplier of other aluminum automotive products such as wheel rims.

I’m enclosing a photo of the signing moment in their plant in France right here (I’m standing in the back, to the left and grinning):

Personally, this was a very satisfying moment, not just for me but also for my cabinet who excelled at all aspects to win this project. Fortunately for us, there’s more to come.

Johnson Matthey, one of the largest producers of automotive catalysts, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Macedonia. My team and I are extremely excited to finally see this project slowly come to fruition. We have been working with JM in relative secrecy over the past several months to ensure Macedonia met and exceeded all of JM’s requirements for a new site to produce catalysts. While this is not a final decision — JM’s Board has to ratify this in July 2007 — the MoU deepens our cooperation and formalizes Macedonia as a top choice for a new plant.

With Johnson Controls already building an electronics manufacturing and assembly plant, and JM a new tenant in the free economic zone near Skopje, we are picking up momentum as a destination for manufacturing. This is especially exciting considering that JM looked at over 10 countries and 100s of sites to settle on Macedonia. It’s a combination of extremely attractive fiscal policy (0% taxes for 10 years, very low lease rate), available, inexpensive and well-qualified labor force, logistics to Western Europe and other infrastructure factors.

Read some of the Macedonian press coverage here:

Vreme

Vecer

Makfax online (english)

Americans for Tax Reform gives praise to our reforms. Macedonia is today Europe’s flat tax heaven with 12% taxes in 2007 and 10% taxes from 2008 onward.

Enjoy,

It’s here on the site of the Macedonian daily Vreme.

Enjoy

My first quote in the Wall Street Journal in support of the Macedonian government’s flat taxes. I gave this quote few weeks back on the 8th South East European Economic forum in Sofia, Bulgaria. Macedonia recently introduced flat corporate and personal income taxes, 10% each, starting in 2008. We’re officially the tax haven in Europe for businesses.