Deputy Prime Minister in charge of economic affairs, coordination of economic departments and investments, Fatmir Bytyqi addressed a conference on Southeast Europe on "Human Capital, Migration and Shaping the Future Together" in Paris today, organized by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The Deputy Minister of Development Cooperation of Slovenia, Stanislav Rascan, the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Stasa Kosarac, the Minister of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade of Kosovo, Rosetta Hajdari, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, addressed the panel together with the Deputy Prime Minister. Trade and Development Cooperation of Croatia Zdenko Lucic, and the panel was moderated by the Director General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Patricia Danci, the government's press service said.

- I am grateful that you invited me to this event, but I am also grateful that you guide us through the policy-making processes, that you offer us insight and expertise in each country in the process of preparing the study on labor migration in the Western Balkans: mapping schemes , solving challenges and reaping the benefits. Reports like this help us, the policy makers, to create quality policies based on a wide range of evidence and policy recommendations that can be implemented, which will provide more intensive and sustainable economic growth, while at the same time serving as an overview of our competitive advantages as a region, said Bytyqi.

This study, pointed out the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, should not be for competitive purposes between us, but should serve to create a much clearer picture of our mutual competitive advantage and how we can grow together, because our future is connected and now, more more than ever, we need to have a holistic, inclusive and collaborative approach to growth-focused policies.

- If we do not do that, then the scenarios are that the migration of young people and the outflow of minds that are already happening, will happen even more. What can a national government do and what has it failed to do or achieve? Probably everyone will say, align policies with global goals like the SDG or other higher EU goals. Northern Macedonia does not lag behind all this: we adopted the Agenda 2030 and the Goals for Sustainable Development in 2016 and repeated them in 2018 and we strive to keep the paradigm of the agenda - not to leave anyone behind. The National Assembly adopted the new Migration Policy Resolution and the 2021-2025 action plan for the country in December 2021, Bytyqi said.

He emphasized that we do not lag behind in creating a good and comprehensive document: National Strategy of the Republic of Northern Macedonia for cooperation with the diaspora for the period 2019-2023.

- But still, is this enough? Or is there something else we can do? For the first time, the creation of new jobs is planned together with the employers, all measures are implemented in cooperation with all stakeholders and according to the real needs in the country at the local level. That is why we have implemented a dual education reform in order to provide more flexibility and responsible vocational schools that will meet the needs of employers and the labor market. The attractiveness of vocational schools and training has improved, which can be seen in the increased number of students in vocational education, namely in the school year 2021-2022, the number of students in vocational schools has increased by six percent compared to last school year, said Bytyqi.

At the same time, he stressed, the government believes that investing in innovative and start-up companies will provide opportunities for young people in the country and reduce economic migration.

- In order to show our clear policy and willingness to follow the ideas of young people in developing their business, we have increased the investment portfolio of the Fund for Innovation and Technological Development. The current investment portfolio of the Fund is in the total amount of approximately EUR 100 million. We create a stable economic environment, good economic policies that can help us build an attractive and predictable business environment. As I see it, the goal is not to lock young people in the country, but to create opportunities for them that will enable them to reach their full potential in their own country, but at the same time, make them competitive enough to the world. Migration is also common in EU member states, but there people move from one country to another for work and that is what I think we should strive for, two-way migration instead of a one-way ticket, which is actually the situation in the West. Balkans, said Bytyqi.

Therefore, he said, I fully support all initiatives that increase regional cooperation in order to increase the competitiveness of human capital and economies, whether we are talking about the Action Plan for Common Regional Market 2021-24 or the Open Balkans initiative or CEFTA or some another initiative in the six from the Western Balkans.

- Then why are we still not able to keep our people in our countries and in the region? What we need to do is not avoid our problems, but focus on them and talk openly about them, but the most important thing is to include those who are most affected in the dialogue. That's what this new generation is asking of us! I am impressed by their strength, honesty and courage to say out loud what is no longer useful to them or what they are not happy with, but even more, to say what they want. I am proud to say that we have started to create the National Development Strategy which is a long-term vision for 20 years of sustainable development and growth of our country and in the process of its development, we do exactly that, we include everyone, we try to make the process inclusive, especially for young people. "I wish when I was young someone would tell me in which country I would live, work and secure life in the 20 years before me," Bytyqi said.