nMACEDONIA'S IMPORT/EXPORT RATIO RISES FROM 57.6 TO 63.8% OVER 3 YEARS

The structure of the Macedonian exports is not favorable, because it consists mostly of medium value added products. Iron and steel make up one third of the exports, apparel accounts for 21.2 percent, food 16.1 percent and other goods 25.4 percent.

This is one of the principle findings of the Report on the Macedonian Foreign Trade 2007 presented by USAID Vice-President Peter Lampesis at a news conference on export promotion today.

As positive processes in Macedonia's foreign trade, Mr. Lampesis laid stress on the fact that the import/export ratio increased from 57.6 to 63.8 percent over the past three years; that the trend of the trade deficit as a share of Macedonia's GDP is expected to decline over the next few years; that the exports positively diversifies in new sectors, such as metals and non-metals; and that last year imports of capital goods increased by 35-45 percent, which indicates better business confidence.

Prime Minister Gruevski said at the press conference that the business climate improvement and the achievement of a higher economic growth were one of the Government's top priorities.