Skopje, 8 November 2022 (MIA) - North Macedonia and Bulgaria have recorded a record level of trade and there is even greater potential to enhance cooperation in energy, agriculture, health... In the coming period, maximum attention must be paid to the set priorities for the Corridor 8 infrastructure networking, said Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani during his official visit to Sofia on Tuesday. FM Osmani said there was not enough political will for the infrastructure projects in the past period and the claim about the difficult geography is not a justification. The set priorities are already in motion with the work of the railway, the road infrastructure and the agreement on the gas connection. "It is correct to state that the East-West infrastructure networking has been neglected over the years and decades. Some justify it because of the difficult geography. I think that new technologies do not know difficult geography but probably there was not enough political will to create infrastructure connections, road, rail and digital in recent times, and also energy connections, East-West, i.e. the Black Sea with the Adriatic Sea," Osmani told a joint press conference with Bulgarian colleague Nikolay Milkov. Therefore, added Osmani, Corridor 8 is the most important priority of the Government of North Macedonia, and I assume also of the Government of the Republic of Bulgaria, which is already showing in action. Last week, the Prime Minister of Bulgaria was in North Macedonia, where the works for the railway section to the Deve Bair border crossing began. "On the other hand, in a few weeks or months we expect to start the highway section that will connect Skopje with the Albanian border, as well as the railway corridor to Albania", Osmani said. He pointed out that he is particularly pleased that the prime ministers of the two countries recently marked the start of the construction of the railway Corridor 8, as well as that the recently signed agreement is a success, which enables our country to be supplied with gas from Bulgaria as of January 1 from multiple sources. According to Osmani, the growth of trade exchange, which for the first eight months of the year already amounts to more than EUR 710 million, with a tendency to reach more than EUR 1 billion, representing a 51-percent increase compared to 2020, speaks of the intensity of trade relations with Bulgaria. That, he pointed out, will put Bulgaria in fifth place on the list of North Macedonia with the countries with which it has the highest trade exchange. Milkov emphasized the growth of the trade exchange, noting that it has never seen such a large amount, which he considered to be an indicator of the commitment to economic cooperation and investment activities. Regarding the country's plans to buy electricity from Bulgaria, he said that Sofia worked very actively at different levels with the European Commission. We worked hard for the energy package for the Western Balkans to include not only short-term and long-term measures for green transition and energy efficiency, but also a package of financial resources, which will cover the needs of the countries of the region during the winter period. The Republic of North Macedonia has had a part of that help, and we truly hope we have helped," Milkov pointed out. Osmani and Milkov agreed to organize a joint business forum in Skopje next month, where they will bring together businesses from both countries with competent institutions to further identify challenges and potential for even greater cooperation. dk/ik/