Companies that operate in free economic zones in North Macedonia accounted for 48% of the country’s total exports in February, the free zones authority, FEZ, announced on March 17.

The share is 3 percentage points (pp) higher than in December 2020, and is expected to grow further.

The total exports from the zones went up by nearly 17% year on year in February, which is 1.6 pp higher than the annual increase of exports in the previous month, FEZ said in the statement.

Regarding imports, companies in the free zones accounted for about 40% of the total in North Macedonia in February, importing goods with value of €249.3mn, which is up by 2% y/y.

The companies in the free zones employ over 14,000 people, and some companies are in the process of hiring new workers. According to existing agreements with investors the companies are obliged to create 7,500 new jobs.

“The Directorate is implementing a new model of encouraging foreign investments, which focuses on the needs of investors according to which the measures and support from the state are being adjusted,” the FEZ said in the statement.

The directorate also said that it is intensively working on new set of measures for the development of human capital, which will contribute to greater productivity and higher wages.

In the last three months alone, the directorate received letters of intent from several existing and new investors for new projects that if realised could bring new investments of €80mn-100mn.

FEZ currently supervises 14 free zones in various stages of development. The biggest one, Bunardzik, is located near the capital Skopje.