REM – largest mall in Tetovo opens in June
MAY 20, 2014BY ALEKSANDRAIN MACEDONIACOMMENTS
The mall REM in Tetovo will be opened in about 30 days, with renowned shops, entertainment, restaurants, playroom, and content for all ages. This is company Renova’s investment which is worth € 40 million.
The mall is part of a unique REM multi- purpose complex, located just 700 meters from the center of Tetovo, between the two main boulevards, which include a hotel and residential units.
Several international and domestic brands will operate in the mall, such as Carrefour supermarket, the Italian fashion chain Gruppo Fiori, Mega Fashion, Arcadia, Extreme intimao, Office Plus, Penti, Lamas and Giovanni USA, Matt Starr, Kimiko, Top Shop, Anhoch, PS Fashion, Golden Rose, Elixir perfumery, Amphora confectionery, Donner Dajti, Meridian pastry and pizza, boutique Emona, Swarovski Elements jewelry, kitchen appliances Elipso etc.
In REM complex beside the mall with an area of 19,000 square meters, there will be a luxury 5 star hotel with 12 floors, panoramic restaurant on the top floor of the hotel, 146 apartments and 400 parking spaces, on total area of 60,000 square meters.
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Economic Chamber of Macedonia: Metallurgy Industry Is Facing Serious Problems
May 20, 2014, Tuesday @ 15:20 in Business » INDUSTRY | Views: 20
The Economic Chamber of Macedonia says the metallurgy industry has been in a crisis for six complete years. Photo:Vlatko Perkovski
Macedonian metallurgy is facing serious problems. There is no continuity in the production process in almost all plants and market conditions are not favorable. There are no positive signals at all, Utrinski Vesnik daily conveys the sector’s representatives assessments.At a press conference held at the Economic Chamber of Macedonia, metallurgy experts said the export is barely maintained at last year's level.The results are not only devastating for the industry, but reflect on the overall economy."The first quarter of this year is not favorable and success is lower than last year. If the industrial production index in January-March was 103, in the metallurgy sector, it was 96.5 with the basic metals, and 97.4 with ore extractions," said Mitko Kocovski, President of the Metallurgy Association.
According to Kocovski, metallurgy companies at the moment are fighting for continuity in production that will lower their expenses and will ensure competitiveness."The current situation is a consequence of the economic crisis which has particularly hit Western Europe, a region where we export the most. To invest nowadays is very difficult, and the effect of the investment before the crisis cannot be felt now," Kocovski stressed.This industry is in a crisis for six whole years, he added. Since 2007, production has double decreased.Answering a journalists question, Kocovski underlined that some of the plants have received delayed deadlines, 6 to 7 months, to install the environmental protection equipment.At the press conference, it was announced that the upcoming metallurgist congress will be held in Ohrid, starting May 29 and will run through June 1. The President of the Macedonian Union of Metallurgists, Sveto Cvetkovski, said that they expect to discuss matters of essence and offer solutions to surpass problems. Regional cooperation will also be focal at the congress. A large number of domestic and foreign experts, including from Finland and Turkey, have confirmed their participation.
- See more at: Economic Chamber of Macedonia: Metallurgy Industry Is Facing Serious Problems - Independent.mk
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Foreign investment to promote Macedonian textiles
20/05/2014An investment of $400 million would create one of Europe's biggest textile factories.
By Biljana Lajmanovska and Menekse Tokyay for Southeast European Times in Skopje and Istanbul -- 20/05/14
Macedonia hopes to be home to Europe’s biggest integrated textile production facility. [AFP]
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An investment announced by textile giant Weibo Group is the latest project funded by foreign companies who are expending resources in the Balkans and using EU-member aspirant countries as routes to reach European Union markets.
The $400 million investment will include construction of four facilities in Rankovce, in Macedonia's northeast, and create one of Europe's largest integrated textile production facilities.
Weibo, headquartered in Guangzhou, China, is financing the deal primarily with Turkish capital. It said it selected Macedonia for investment because of the country's low labour and production costs and its considerable experience in the textile industry.
The company chose Macedonia over Turkey because of its location and the company's ability to initiate such an investment there, said Selcuk Alperen, president of the Weibo Group.
"Macedonia is at the centre of Europe. It would be possible to reach European countries, Russia and even the US from this region," Alperen told Hurriyet.
Alperen also said the Macedonia facility will produce well-known global brands as well as the company's own brand.
The Weibo Group focuses on producing shirts, jackets, suits, coats and pants.
Officials said they plan to sell the products produced in Macedonia -- between $600 million and $800 million annually -- in Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Spain, China, South Korea, Japan and the US.
Macedonian officials said the government expects great returns on the investment.
The integrated production facility will provide employment opportunities and economic growth, and will have a positive impact on wages, said Vladimir Pesevski, deputy prime minister of Macedonia.
"When unemployment rates decrease in an area, the companies operating there are practically forced to offer higher wages to keep their employees," Pesevski told SETimes.
Weibo will create 5,000 jobs in Macedonia and an additional 2,000 in companies related to its work.
Another reason Weibo chose Macedonia is the country's excellent relations with Turkey, said Anastas Dzurovski, an economics professor at the State University in Bitola.
"Besides the cultural relations and traditional ties, Turkey's general policy is to focus on this region. Of course … lower labour costs, low or no taxes and a high level of investment protection also have made Macedonia attractive for Turkish investors," Dzurovski told SETimes.
Turkish businessmen have invested about 1 billion euros in Macedonia, primarily in the food, construction and services sectors.
The region has had many integrated textile facilities dating back to the 1970s, said Hasan Hosben, head of the Macedonian-Turkish Business Council under Turkey's Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK).
"Textile is a main manufacturing branch in Macedonia. Now, thanks to the free-trade agreements that it made with various countries, production in Macedonia has a potential to reach over 650 million people, especially in the near areas, within a very short timeframe," Hosben told SETimes.
Other Turkish entrepreneurs are active in Macedonia through small-scale textile boutiques.
How will foreign investment in the region help improve the region’s economy? Share your opinion in the comments space.
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Croatia, Macedonia, Bulgaria to set up Joint Securities trading Co. in Skopje
Tuesday, 20 May 2014
Bulgaria, Macedonia and Croatia have created a joint company to integrate trade in security, Novinite.com reads.
The joint project has received financial support from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The institution will be based in Macedonia's capital, Skopje, according to a statement by the Bulgarian Stock Exchange quoted by the website Investor.bg.
Ivana Gazic, who chairs the board of the Zagred Stock Exchange, described the move as a plausible answer to their efforts "to improve visibility and efficiency" of the three markets.
Cooperation could also lead "other regional exchanges to joining in the future," according to her Macedonian counterpart, Ivan Shteriev.
Bulgarian Stock Exchange Director Ivan Takev, for his part, views the joint initiative as a way to attract investors on a regional basis.
