Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski led a Government delegation at a business forum in the Saudi city of Jeddah where he presented possibilities for investment in Macedonia.

Macedonian Government informs that the forum was organized in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce in this large industrial port and second largest city in Saudi Arabia. Speaking before representatives of major Saudi corporations, Prime Minister Gruevski pointed out to the fact that Macedonia has created a very favourable investment climate.

"Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedoms now ranks Macedonia 43rd in the World, up from an earlier ranking of 78. We rank 31 in the Index of Global Competitiveness, while Foreign Policy ranked Macedonia 29th", Gruevski said.

The Prime Minister spoke about possibilities open for major foreign investors in the free economic industrial zones in Macedonia, which offer subsidies for the construction of the plant, tax and red tape relief and free long term lease of the land.

"Our free economic zones were ranked among the top 50 global free zones of the future in 2012 and 2013 by the Financial Time's fDi Magazine. The Skopje free economic zone was declared the best in Europe for major investments. We plan to have a total of 14 free economic zones in Macedonia, four of which have already been built and are fully operational, with the remainder due to open in the next year and half. Macedonia was also ranked fourth friendliest country in the World judging by the attitude of its citizens toward foreign investments by the World Economic Forum", Gruevski added.

Regarding fiscal stability, Gruevski pointed out that Macedonia has retained its BB+ Fitch credit rating. The Prime Minister invited investors to come and visit Macedonia and personally see the opportunities that are offered and the good business climate.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Zoran Stavreski and Foreign Affairs Minister Nikola Poposki joined Gruevski at the meeting, as did Minister Visar Fida and Deputy Economy Minister Hristijan Delev. Stavreski said that Macedonia has one of the best tax packages for companies on offer.

"Personal and corporate tax rates are at a flat 10 percent, while companies pay no taxes on the portion of income they reinvest in the country. On top of this, Macedonia has the lowest costs for doing business in the World", Stavreski said.

Delev presented possibilities for investment in the separate tourism zones, such as the planned skiing centers, and in a number of energy projects related to the on-going gasification of the country. The Deputy Minister pointed out that the Government has fully prepared projects where foreign companies can invest. The forum also heard from Abid al Selami, owner of several food companies, who has visited Macedonia and said that it is a country that has some of the best investment potential.

The Jeddah forum was the final event in the visit to Saudi Arabia by the Macedonian delegation. Prime Minister Gruevski leaves Jeddah for Belgrade, where Serbia hosts a large, two day summit between China and 16 Central and Eastern European countries.