Skopje, 6 November 2023 (MIA) — The number of employees in the country's industrial free zones as of October rose by 10 percent from this time last year and has now reached 17,769, according to the Free Zones Authority in a press release.

Compared to the same time in 2021, the number of jobs grew by 28 percent, and compared to 2020, it grew by over 32 percent. "More than 4,800 citizens got new jobs in the zones over the past three years," the release points out.

"In addition, exports in October exceeded 3 billion and 100 million euros, the same as last year but by 25 percent higher than the first ten months of 2021, and by 50 percent higher than the same time in 2020 year," the release says, noting that in October alone the companies' exports reached almost 300 million euros.

According to the Free Zones Authority, this positive growth trend is expected to continue through the end of the year due to an increasing number of new investment contracts.

"This year alone, contracts worth 350 million euros have been signed," the rekease says, adding that this is "yet another confirmation that we offer a stable business environment." mr/