Macedonia rolls out red carpet for Indian parts makers

Macedonia, a small South East European country of 26,000 square kilometres (a little bigger than Meghalaya), is wooing Indian auto component manufacturers. The country, which was a part of the former Yugoslavia, has several attractive credentials as a country to do business in. It ranked No 3 in the World Bank’s report on the ease of doing business globally and has some of the lowest taxes in the world.

Being located near Turkey gives it the ideal location to serve western and central European customers while capitalising on the surge in vehicle production in Turkey, Romania and Serbia. 

Nikola Gruevski, the prime minster, Republic of Macedonia, while talking to investors in Chennai, said, “Indian business has a lot of opportunities in our country and can look to setting up manufacturing units.” He said Macedonia has all the required resources to set up manufacturing units including availability of skilled labour and quick approvals.

Prime minister Gruevski, along with his cabinet colleagues, was in Chennai to meet investors after participating in the Vibrant Gujarat Submit in Ahmedabad. He said prime minister Narendra Modi has promised to send a business delegation to Macedonia to explore business opportunities.

Hristijan Delev, the deputy minister of the economy, said, “Belgium’s largest bus body fabricator Van Hool has established a bus manufacturing facility in Macedonia to make buses for the European and US market and employs 600 people. It has plans to export 800 buses from Macedonia.”

According to Delev, Macedonia mainly makes automotive components. Many companies from Germany and the US that make parts in the country supply and take advantage of the time difference to supply them from just-in-time for factories in Europe. He said Macedonia, with a population of 2.2 million, is ideally placed to be the gateway for Indian companies trying to enter Europe. Among the big names in Macedonia are Johnson Controls, Johnson Matthey, RUEN International Technologies, Hi-Tech Corporation and others.