The President of the Republic of Macedonia, Dr. Gjorge Ivanov, today received, in a farewell meeting, the Ambassador of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria to the Republic of Macedonia, H.E. Mr. Habib Chawki Hamraoui.

At the meeting, President Ivanov expressed his satisfaction with the established cooperation with Ambassador Hamraoui and his personal commitment to the enhancement of the bilateral relations between the two countries.

President Ivanov expressed interest in intensifying political dialogue between the two countries through exchange of visits at all levels. The interlocutors expressed interest and readiness to promote economic cooperation and trade exchange between the two countries, concurring that despite the geographical distance, there is, undoubtedly, untapped potential for economic cooperation. Trade exchange, as President Ivanov said, is at a very low level and does not correspond with the potential for exchange between the two countries, thus, strengthening of the contractual framework will be a boost for binding the two economies together.

President Ivanov stressed that the Republic of Macedonia is also interested in cooperation with Algeria within the Francophonie. In this regard, the Macedonian President stressed the commitment for development of cultural ties between the two countries within the Francophonie, in order to implement a number of projects in the field of culture, education and science.

It was concluded at the meeting that a high level of relations and cooperation has been achieved between the two countries at multilateral level, on mutual interest matters, within the international organizations.

President Ivanov wished Ambassador Hamraoui success in his future career and expressed expectation that the constructive cooperation will continue with the next Ambassador of Algeria to the Republic of Macedonia, aimed at improvement of relations between the two countries.