An administrative building has been opened Saturday at the Technological-Industrial Development Zone (TIDZ) Skopje 1, which includes customs terminal, offices for fright forwarding, banking, post service, restaurants, about 40 business premises and other auxiliary facilities.

“The new building should attract new investors and offer better working conditions for the companies already located in the zone,” Prime Minister Mr. Nikola Gruevski said at the opening ceremony.

"I believe that by providing appropriate infrastructure within these zones, we shall respond towards growing interest for investing in Macedonia, thus enabling opening of new plants and jobs," Gruevski said.

The Government, he said, will hold to its good economic policies, keep nourishing the favorable business climate and promoting Macedonia's doing business terms abroad, he also added.

The Government invested 69,5 million Denars (about 1,13 million Euros) in the administrative building of TIDZ Skopje 1, where the plants of US companies 'Johnson Controls', 'Kemet Electronics', British 'Johnson Matthey', Italian 'TeknoHose', Russian 'Protek Group' have already been set into operation.

“Benefits of the TIDZs concept are becoming tangible, as the total FDI for 2007-2011 was at 1,5billion Euro, i.e. 93% higher compared to the previous three-year period,” the Vice-Premier and the Finance Minister Zoran Stavreski said. What is more important, such figures are being registered in a period of global economic turmoil, Mr. Stavreski said.

The total surface area of the TIDZ Skopje 1 is 140 hectares. It occupies a first class location - 10 km east of the capital Skopje, on the crossroad of the Corridors 8 and 10. TIDZ Skopje 1 has direct highway exchange with corridor 8 and is just 3.3 km away from E-75 Highway. Alexander the Great International Airport is 5 km away from the zone (1 km airline distance) and is suitable for cargo and passengers intercontinental flights. The nearest national rail station and sea port (the one in Thessaloniki-Greece) are 6.5 km and 230km respectively away from the zone.