North Macedonia’s economy has grown significantly in the last decade. Consumption and exports drove the economy’s growth from 2004 to 2008. (notably metals and textile products). This led to a 4.5 percent GDP decrease in 2020. Private spending and remittances helped the economy develop by 4% in 2021.
EFTA
On June 19, 2000, the EFTA countries signed a free trade agreement with North Macedonia in Zürich, Switzerland. The Agreement becomes effective on May 1, 2002.
Trade-in industrial products, as well as fish and marine products, are included under the Free Trade Agreement. The transitional phase ends ten years after the Agreement enters into force. Furthermore, bilateral agriculture agreements have been reached between the EFTA nations and North Macedonia, which are part of the instruments establishing the free trade zone.
One of the Agreement’s (Article 1) goals is to foster the harmonious development of economic relations between the Parties through expanding reciprocal commerce. The Agreement includes restrictions on customs taxes and other trade obstacles, as well as other trade-related disciplines like competition laws, intellectual property protection, public procurement, state monopolies, state aid, and payments and transfers. A Joint Committee is constituted under the agreement to oversee the agreement.
The UK – North Macedonia
North Macedonia, the UK’s largest commercial partner in the Western Balkans, has inked a collaboration agreement with the UK government. It includes a trade continuity agreement that ensures both countries’ businesses may continue to deal on substantially the same terms as before.
The deal assures businesses that trade between the UK and North Macedonia would continue on roughly the same conditions as the EU-North Macedonia Stabilisation and Association Agreement, to which the UK is presently a party and which includes tariff-free industrial products trade. The UK traded with North Macedonia for over £1.8 billion last year, accounting for roughly 0.1 percent of GDP.
The deal also “provides a foundation for greater political engagement and improved cooperation on vital subjects such as the environment, education, and human rights,” according to the UK government. The UK has reiterated its commitment to a close relationship with North Macedonia and to continuing to play a beneficial role in the area by signing the Agreement.”
North Macedonia – Turkey
The Republic of Turkey and the Republic of Macedonia signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on September 7, 1999, in Ankara, which went into effect on September 1, 2000.
The FTA controls a variety of topics, including sanitary and phytosanitary measures, intellectual property, rules of origin, internal taxes, anti-dumping and countervailing measures, safeguards, and balance of payments measures, in addition to abolishing tariffs and non-tariff barriers.
As of January 1, 2008, customs taxes on industrial products imported into Macedonia were abolished.
In 2003, customs taxes on industrial products from Macedonia imported into Turkey were removed.
Turkey and Macedonia exchanged reciprocal concessions for specific agricultural products in the form of tariff quotas or on an unlimited basis subject to MFN duty reduction or exemption. Protocol I of the Agreement establishes reciprocal concession lists for agricultural items.
North Macedonia – Ukraine
North Macedonia–Ukraine ties refer to the Republic of North Macedonia’s and Ukraine’s bilateral relations. North Macedonia maintains an embassy in Kyiv, while Ukraine maintains an embassy in Skopje. The Macedonian city of Bitola, Ukraine also has a consulate. Several initiatives to enhance relations between the two countries have been made over the years.
A total of over 100 buses were exported to North Macedonia in 2011 from a manufacturer in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. In Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia, Ukrainian buses are in service. As of that year, the Lviv bus manufacturer was North Macedonia’s sole bus provider.
In August 2008, the two nations’ culture ministries negotiated an agreement to sell wax figures from a Kyiv firm to a North Macedonian cultural museum. It was part of an agreement between North Macedonia and Ukraine to develop collaboration in the domains of culture, education, and research.
