Distinguished attendees,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

As President of the Republic of Macedonia, it is an honor to be today with you at the Crans Montana Forum. This is a forum whose aim is to build trust and open discussions on important and current topics. We live in a world that urges us to cooperate and exchange, not only material goods, but also ideas, values and experiences. Therefore, I would like to congratulate Ambassador Jean Paul Carteron on what he is doing for Europe, Africa and the world.

Excellencies,

Neither Europe nor Africa are closed – on the contrary, they are open worlds. Openness has enabled the intertwining of various cultures and civilizations and their mutual enrichment both in Europe and Africa.

Openness has also enabled us in Macedonia to create an authentic symbiosis of Eastern and Western values. By living in an open space, our ancestors have developed a tradition of cohabitation and respect, as well as acceptance of diversity in all spheres of life – culture, economy, politics.

We have remained consistent with this legacy. Today, the Republic of Macedonia is leading a foreign policy of openness to all of those willing to cooperate. This has been our approach in both politics and economy. We belong to Europe, but also to the world throughout which we have our friends. Our strategic goals are membership in NATO and the European Union - however, we are not renouncing the possibilities of deepening our cooperation with all well-intentioned countries.

Same goes for Macedonia economy which is open to foreign investors. With comprehensive reforms, in conditions of global economic crisis, we have managed to create a favorable business environment for foreign investments. This has also been featured in the relevant global reports. According to the World Bank Doing Business Report, for several consecutive years, Macedonia has been ranked as the best reformer country in Southeast Europe and the third best reformer country in the world. In 2014, Macedonian economy had the second best result in Europe featuring an economic growth of around 4 per cent. Macedonia was ranked as the third economy in Europe in 2013, 2011 and 2010. The fall of our economy in the crisis period between 2009 and 2012 was the least as compared to all other countries in Southeast Europe. All of the abovementioned is due to our openness and direct approach.

Direct contact is unsubstitutable. Therefore I am very pleased that today I am accompanied by renown businessmen from Macedonia who are here to discover the possibilities for cooperation with the business community in Morocco.

However, openness is impossible without trust. One of the main topics of this year's forum is the promotion of dialogue between Africa, the Maghreb and Europe. I believe that this is part of an ever bigger story – dialogue among religions, cultures an civilizations.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

More than ever before, we stand before the danger of seeing the world enter in a new whirlpool of violence, and that of the worst kind - violence in the name of God and in the name of religion.

We all know very well that we have not forgotten the past, but we also know that we have learned almost nothing from it.

The lack of respect for international law and the judgments of the International Court of Justice introduce uncertainty and insecurity in international relations.

We see again the shadows of prejudice, intolerance, xenophobia and other forerunners of conflicts. Global media air is so polluted with doubts that it almost suffocates us. Doubts and fear are a result of the absence of dialogue.

However, fear itself is a bad adviser since in its essence, it is negative. We know that throughout history, only determined people with positive aims were able to realize their intentions.

This is why back in 2003, we initiated the first Forum of the Dialogue among Civilizations as the forerunner of the UN Alliance of Civilizations. We plan to renew the Dialogue in cooperation with UNESCO and the European Union. We will also organize the Fourth World Conference on Interreligious and Intercivilizational Dialogue.

Dialogue among various religions and views ends where their diversity begins. The aim of dialogue is not and must not be overcoming, but instead respecting and accepting diversity. If we do not support dialogue, we will slowly but surely move towards a clash of religions and civilizations. This is why we strongly support the work of the Alliance of Civilizations and all forums, like Crans Montana, whose work contributes to building trust and dialogue.

We firmly believe that only through dialogue and sincere familiarization we will be able to reach sustainable peace. Peace among religions and civilizations will mean peace in the world.

We are aware that perhaps sustainable peace among religions and civilizations is just a nice dream. But we must never forget that without these nice dreams, nightmares will take over the power in the world.

It is our responsibility, with all our actions, to help future generations in Europe, Africa and Asia to make this dream come true.

Thank you.