Car, ceramic, electronics and agriculture companies have expressed interest to invest in Macedonia during the visit of a governmental delegation, led by Prime Nikola Gruevski, to India.

The government's road show across India included four business forums and numerous meetings with representatives of India's companies.

"We have had two presentations in the capital New Delhi and one in the city of Pune - the hub of automotive industry, as well as another one today in Mumbai - practically India's business capital. It is a home of about 30 million citizens and hosts many companies, factories. The city has great potential for bolstering the economy," Gruevski said.

Representatives of 300-350 companies attended the forums, having an opportunity to learn more about doing business advantages Macedonia is offering, seek further information on certain details, the PM said. There has been also interest in conveying special meetings. At many of them companies expressed their interest in the next months, year or two to invest in Macedonia, he added.

There is no overnight decision on investing, as it requires a detailed analysis and market research, which brings positive or negative outcome, Gruevski said.

He expressed hope for the four presentations in India, which enjoyed a solid media coverage, to bring results. The media presentation of Macedonia - statements, interviews of the delegation members - enabled to a huge number of other companies in India to get more information about the country and realize that it really may serve as their gate to Europe, as it offers low doing business costs, high-quality labor force, the PM said. In addition, the small country of two million citizens covers a market of 650 million consumers thanking to its free trade agreements with all European countries, he said.

India's businessmen have hailed many of the information, presented at the forums, as certain opportunities being offered in Macedonia do not exist in India, the PM said.

"The measures we have taken for the last few years in terms of lowering the taxes, simplifying the bureaucratic procedures, introducing the e-cadastre give us a lot of material we may present (abroad) and attract investors that could open new jobs in Macedonia," Gruevski said.

The Sahara India Pariwar conglomerate has been the Macedonian delegation's host in India.

The conglomerate Chairman and Managing Director, Sushanto Roy, expressed satisfaction with what they saw and heard in the last few days, saying that the presentations of Macedonia's investment opportunities raised great interest among India's business community.

Our company is planning to soon visit Macedonia, get familiar with the possibilities it is offering and establish business contacts, Roy said.

"Our ties with Macedonia go far back as it is the native country of Mother Teresa, who as Macedonian national spent large part of her life in India. I believe the time has come for us to go to Macedonia," Roy said.

Tomorrow, the governmental team is to present Macedonia's investment opportunities in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia.