Monday, 1 September 2014
MEETING OF THE PRESIDENT VELJANOSKI AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA, THE HONOURABLE ANDREW SCHEER
Upon an invitation of the President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Trajko Veljanoski, today, the Honourable Andrew Scheer, Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada is officially visiting the Republic of Macedonia.
At the beginning of the meeting the President Veljanoski expressed great pleasure from the opportunity to host his colleague and thanked him for visiting the Republic of Macedonia, underlining that these visits are a confirmation of the close friendly relations between the Republic of Macedonia and Canada which certainly will be developed in the future as well. The interlocutors agreed that the parliamentary cooperation is successful and continuous in the exchange of parliamentary delegations, through direct contacts and meetings between parliamentary groups for cooperation from the two parliaments contributing in the mutual relations.
The President Veljanoski expressed appreciation for the acknowledgement of the constitutional name of the Republic of Macedonia by Canada and in the bilateral communication, as well as the strong and continuous support for our European and Atlantic integration processes as the most important political priority of the Republic of Macedonia.
The Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, the Honourable Andrew Scheer expressed appreciation for the warm welcome in Macedonia and the opportunity to address before the Members of the Assembly. He underlined that Canada highly appreciates the participation of the Macedonian soldiers in the international peace keeping missions and underlined that Canada is permanently supporting the Membership of the Republic of Macedonia in NATO.
The meeting referred to the Macedonian Community in Canada that is a bridge in the overall bilateral, political, economic and cultural relations between the two states. The Macedonian Community today is represented in all social flows in Canada, such as the politics, economy, science and sport.
The President Veljanoski underlined that it is needed big companies from Canada to invest in the Republic of Macedonia which will increase the economic cooperation. He underlined that the Republic of Macedonia constantly works on improvement of the conditions for investments in our state.
The Speaker of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Canada, Mr. Andrew Scheer expressed pleasure that the Republic of Macedonia is on the right track and has stabile economy aside from the great economic crisis and agreed that there is room for improvement of this cooperation between the two states.
He underlined that Canada is open to ratification of trade agreements for cooperation and that the ratification of the agreement with the European Union will strengthen the presence of Canada at the European Markets, positively influencing the Republic of Macedonia as well.
The meeting also referred to the liberalization of the visa regime for the Republic of Macedonia, in the first phase liberalization of the visa regime for the diplomatic and official passports.