General information

The Economic Chamber of Macedonia, on 13 September 2005, established Club  for cooperation with countries in the Middle East and Maghreb (Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco) in order to  revitalize commercial relations  with these countries. The Club objectives are to need to give support to companies through mutual information and promotion, to establish chamber`s collaboration and cooperation with other business associations, and in front of  the Government of the Republic of Macedonia to initiate actions to create stimulating environment for collaboration.

Governments across the Middle East face a diverse set of challenges, but none are as central as addressing socioeconomic issues which helped spark popular uprisings in early 2011. Reducing high unemployment rates, particularly among young people, remains a challenge across the region. Countries reliant on energy exports continue to search for paths to diversification, while energy-poor countries face the need to grow domestic markets and boost exports. Meanwhile, water scarcity is testing governments and poses a growing security challenge. Ten of the 15 most water-poor countries in the world are in the Middle East, and agricultural policies in the region are depleting already scarce groundwater reserves at an alarming rate. The challenges of improving governance to bolster economic growth and broad-based development are increasingly urgent in the Middle East.