STA, 1 April 2018 - PM Miro Cerar will pay an official visit to Macedonia on Tuesday and Wednesday at the invitation of his counterpart Zoran Zaev. Cerar will pay a return visit to reaffirm the traditionally good and friendly relations between the countries, strengthen business ties and discuss on Euro-Atlantic perspective for Macedonia and the Western Balkans.
Cerar is also scheduled to meet Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov and parliamentary Speaker Talat Xhaferi.
The prime minister will be accompanied by Economic Development and Technology Minister Zdravko Počivalšek and a sizeable business delegation led by director general of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) Sonja Šmuc.
The Slovenian and Macedonian business executives will hold a business forum on the sidelines of the visit.
The Slovenian-Macedonian political and economic relations are traditionally good, friendly and well-developed.
Slovenia has been actively supporting Macedonia on its path towards Euro-Atlantic integration, by offering political support and providing assistance of Slovenian experts.
Slovenia's view is that a stable, safe and economically successful Macedonia is in the best interest of the region and the EU, the Government Communication Office said last November, when Zaev visited Slovenia.
Macedonia has been waiting to join the EU and NATO for a decade. Although it has met all the requirements for NATO membership, it has not joined the alliance yet because of a name dispute with Greece.
Zaev's government has been striving to strengthen cooperation with Greece and create a positive atmosphere to pave the way for a solution to the dispute.
The two countries' foreign ministers, Nikola Dimitrov and Nikos Kocias, called for a compromise solution at the end of March in Skopje, but public opinion polls show that most Greeks oppose the use of the name Macedonia in the compromise proposal.
According to the Slovenian prime minister's office, Cerar will express support for Macedonian efforts to join the EU and NATO ahead of the European Commission's release of reports on the progress of individual candidate countries.
Macedonia expects the Commission to recommend the start of EU accession talks.
Slovenia is one of Macedonia's most important trading partners. Bilateral merchandise trade reached EUR 289.3m last year, which is 10.4% more than in 2016.
Last year, imports from Macedonia increase by 20.8% to EUR 104.1m, while exports to the country rose by 5.4% to EUR 185.2m.
Macedonia is the fourth most interesting destination for Slovenian investors. Slovenian investments to the country topped EUR 415.5m at the end of 2016, which is 5% more than the cumulative value at the end of 2015.
Slovenian investments are aimed at retail, insurance, and at the chemical and automotive industry, but the country also sees opportunities in the construction of public and other infrastructure, energy and environmental projects, in tourism, food-processing industry, agriculture, and steel and metal industries.
As part of development cooperation, Macedonia received EUR 14m in development aid from Slovenia between 2005 and 2016, mostly for projects dealing with environment protection and energy efficiency.
