Skopje, 22 June 2023 (MIA) - Productivity and competitiveness are two areas in which the country has very serious problems on the path to the EU, and if the country enters the common market, there will be serious obstacles, academician Taki Fiti said Thursday.

According to him, the country is not fully ready to enter the European market, but it is a process, he noted, even if we go for a regional option. That process cannot happen immediately, and it is a question whether the EU members will accept it, as well as whether the other states will agree, because some of the countries in the region have already opened negotiations and made some progress.

Fiti pointed out that the country is the weakest in the domain of institutions, but major weaknesses have also been detected in the educational system at all levels. According to him, in higher education things are in a worse situation than in the early transition years. However, he noted, the country has some advantages, namely macroeconomic stability and information and communication technologies, while one of the strengths is the business climate.

Regional cooperation, the professor said, cannot be an alternative for the EU, but its intensification speeds up the European integration process.

"In terms of productivity and competitiveness, the country will have serious obstacles if it were to enter the common market tomorrow. In terms of competitiveness, we rank 82nd among 141 countries, and in terms of productivity, we have an unfortunate situation, both according to GDP per worker, and according to newly created added value per worker, and according to total factor productivity. Here, the country lags behind the European average between 2.5 and four times, not to mention the highly developed countries, and that will cause a problem. Today we will open that question, we will discuss the factors that influence such a situation, as well as the possible approaches to how it can be solved," Fiti said ahead of the scholarly conference on "Accelerating North Macedonia's EU accession process: Key challenges and priorities". 

According to the professor, the situation in healthcare is also uncertain. 

He also pointed out that regional cooperation is very important. 

"I have always believed that regional cooperation and trade is a very important thing because here, within a region, countries have comparative advantages. Large transport costs and problems related to the freedom of movement of goods and services are eliminated, as customs duties have been de facto abolished. I think that it cannot be an alternative for the EU, but the intensification of regional cooperation has always accelerated the European integration process," said Taki Fiti. 

Photo: MIA