The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, during his visit to the Republic of Turkey on the occasion of tomorrow's inauguration of the newly elected Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, attended today a Business Forum in the Ostim industrial zone in Ankara. The Ostim Industrial zone is one of the largest zones in Turkey with 5,000 companies and over 50,000 employees in 17 different industrial sectors. The Business Forum was attended by representatives from 5 industry sectors in the area of renewable energy, medicine, construction, automotive and defense industry, thus representing more than 80 companies.

The Macedonian President urged the Turkish businessmen to visit our country and use its advantages and capacities for the implementation of their business plans. President Ivanov in his address highlighted the conditions for foreign investment in the Republic of Macedonia and informed the Turkish businessmen with all that Macedonia has been doing in the past years in the economic sphere.

"I invite you to visit Macedonia and include it in your analysis and considerations for expansion of your business, and to ensure that Macedonia offers great opportunities. To assess the existing capacities, to talk to the companies that are already present in Macedonia and listen to their experience," President Ivanov said at the Business Forum in Ostim.

President Ivanov stressed that between the Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Turkey there are relations characterized by traditional friendship and partnership and the communication and cooperation between the two countries is intense at all levels and that the strategy to strengthen the bilateral relations of 2008 is successfully implemented.

- Our two countries today have very good grounds to focus on what is most important - economic cooperation, investment. We are pleased with the permanent economic development and economic success of the Republic of Turkey. One thing is clear, we can do much more in investment and trade. It should be the focus for the forthcoming period, the Macedonian President said.

During the visit to the Republic of Turkey, President Ivanov visited the companies Istem Medical and Telmek. In Istem Medical, the Macedonian President had a meeting with the leadership and was informed of their business plans related to investments in Macedonia. Istem Medical is a company manufacturing medical products, which according to the signed agreement, is to invest about 10 million Euros in Macedonia. According to the announcement, in about 2 months the construction of a factory in the Bunardgik zone is to start, which will employ 100 people initially and the number of employees is expected to reach 250 in a few years.
Visiting Telmek, President Ivanov was informed about their interest in investing in the Republic of Macedonia and was presented with the portfolio and the successes of this company which is export-oriented and works successfully in the markets outside Turkey. Telmek is a company producing mechanical parts for companies operating in the field of IT, technology, engineering, automotive industry, medical and defense sectors.

President Ivanov is paying a two-day visit to the Republic of Turkey on the occasion of tomorrow's inauguration of the newly elected Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.