Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister Vasil Tupurkovski today concludes a three-day trip to Taiwan, the first by a Macedonian official since the country's presidential election last November.
Although no specific plans for economic cooperation have been announced so far during his visit, officials have said they expect a renewal of interest in implementing projects that had been put on hold by the Kosovo crisis last spring.
"Macedonia values our cooperative relations with Taiwan," said Tupurkovski.
PHOTO: SUNG CHIH-HSIUNG, LIBERTY TIMESN
"We hope Taiwan's assistance will help us push through social and economic reforms," he said.
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (
Macedonia's ailing economy took a nosedive last year during the Kosovo conflict after an estimated 240,000 Kosovar Albanians took refuge on its side of the Serbian-Macedonian border. The conflict ended eventually with NATO intervention, but plans for Macedonia's economic development were nevertheless frozen as it scrambled to cope with the refugee crisis.
During his trip, Tupurkovski met with Chiang Pin-kung (
Taiwan has constructed an export processing zone near the capital Skopje and plans are in the works to build a trade center in the center of the city.
When Premier Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) visited Macedonia last August, he offered an aid package of US$80 million, including US$20 million for the construction of public housing, US$31 million to the European Bank for Rehabilitation and Development for the Macedonian portion of the "Balkan Action Plan," and US$10.5 million for infrastructure projects.
Tupurkovski, the former director-general of Macedonia's Agency of Reconstruction and Development, is the architect of ties between Macedonia and Taiwan.
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