Migration has increased five times, about 700 thousand Macedonians live outside the country, according to an OECD report

"Around 700 thousand Macedonians or about a quarter of the population live outside the country today. Migration from North Macedonia in the last decade has increased by five times to the EU and about a quarter of the working population leaves the country, which affects the productivity of the country itself, said Anita Richter, head of the Southeast Europe department of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development - OECD. at today's presentation of the OECD Report "Labour Migration in the Western Balkans, Mapping the Patterns, Addressing the Challenges and Using the Benefits".

Richter pointed out that a large diaspora can bring significant resources to their country of origin. He also pointed out that the potential of the diaspora of North Macedonia is quite large and that about three percent of the remittances go to the country, but this is below the average in the Western Balkans where it is about 10 percent.

The Vice Prime Minister in charge of economic affairs, coordination of economic departments and investments, Fatmir Bitici, believes that young people should not be held back, but opportunities should be created for them that will allow them to reach their full potential in their own country, but at the same time will make them competitive enough for the world.

- Almost every time we talk about migration, we hear and say the phrase "to keep the young people at home". I believe that everyone in this room who is a parent or has ever been young knows that keeping them anywhere is never an option, Bitici pointed out.

According to him, what we have to do as a country is not to avoid our problems but to focus on them and speak openly and most importantly to include the youth in the dialogue. That's what young people want from us.

The ambassador of Switzerland in Skopje, Veronika Ullman, referred to the message of Vice Prime Minister Bitici on how to return young people to their own country.

- The study first provides certain recommendations such as, for example, identification of the smart transformation of the educational system which will provide more opportunities to the Macedonian workforce and thereby increase the national standard of living. Through this program, Switzerland is already taking part in these efforts, Ullmann pointed out.

She expressed support for the Government of North Macedonia to harmonize its vocational education system with the labor market, to establish cooperation between educational institutions and the innovative eco-system and contribution to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises and start-up businesses.

- Also, the large diaspora originating from North Macedonia lives in Switzerland. Therefore, we are directly interested in identifying together with you the points through which we will be able to encourage this diaspora and the flow of knowledge and expertise. I hope that today's discussion will bring concrete solutions and encourage new activities in this direction, added the ambassador of Switzerland.

The ambassador of Austria in Skopje, Georg Vutsas, said that Austria is a supporter of North Macedonia and the Western Balkan six to join the European Union and that Austria would like these negotiations to end without delay so that the country can join the EU as soon as possible.

- Austria and the EU want to see a developed Western Balkans that joins, not an empty society especially of their youth and highly qualified workforce. Austria is not the main destination of migration from North Macedonia, but despite that there is a fairly large migration from this country to Austria, Vutsas pointed out and added that Austria offers several programs and initiatives aimed at reversing this trend of emptying the intellectual force from the state.

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