The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands organised Wednesday an event titled "Dutch Business Support Programmes".

Business owners, managers, people hired in the development sectors and business consultants who attended the event had the opportunity to get more information on how to use the accessible Dutch programmes for support of the Macedonian private sector development, the Dutch Embassy said in a press release.

In her address, Ambassador Schuurman said the main reason to organize the event was the fact that enhancing and deepening economic ties is the Embassy's core business.

"Furthermore, the Netherlands is a country which cannot survive without international trade and therefore it is our shared interest to create more jobs, higher incomes and a decent living for all citizens in Macedonia. And the main contributor to jobs and income are small and medium enterprises, which is why we focus on you today", said Ambassador Schuurman.

Economy Minister Valon Saraqini also pointed out the importance of bilateral economic cooperation between Macedonia and the Netherlands, which holds the first place in overall investments in the Republic of Macedonia.

"I would like to point out tourism, investment projects in cooperation with local business partners, the dairy and energy sectors as possible fields for future cooperation between our two countries. These fields are also proposed in the programmes for private sector support and development", added Saraqini.

Representatives of the Dutch Ministry of Economy in charge of the implementation of the programmes for Macedonia, as well as representatives of the economic sector of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands were also present at the event, presenting programmes Identifying and connecting to Dutch partners (for trade, investments, etc.); Financial grants for support of investments in new products and services; Free consulting and expertise provided by Dutch experts.

The programmes are available to all private companies in the Republic of Macedonia, regardless of the sector they work in. They are free-of-charge and the application procedure is fast and simple, reads the press release.