February 1 (BTA Correspondent Marinela Velichkova) - A mechanism for transparency of investments between Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia will be set up, said Bulgaria's Minister of Innovation and Growth Daniel Lorer and North Macedonia's Finance Minister Fatmir Besimi here on Tuesday. They gave a joint statement after a meeting of the newly established bilateral working group on economy, trade and innovation.

The investment transparency mechanism will be aimed at giving every investor from one or the other country the opportunity to submit alerts about problems or obstacles in case of even the slightest suspicion of discrimination or unequal treatment on the part of the central authorities. These alerts will reach the highest political level, Lorer and Besimi explained.

"We do not know whether such things happen, but we insist on transparency. To avoid speculations, we insist on this becoming known at the highest political level," Lorer said.

The two ministers noted that their two countries have the same economic goals and relatively the same economic growth set, and should help each other to achieve these together. The new mechanism will be of help in this respect.

Besimi said that there will also be support for agriculture and rural areas to improve the living standard of the two communities and the working climate in the two countries.

As a result of Tuesday's meeting, working groups will be set up that in the coming month will work on improving the investment environment (debt investments or other financial instruments), agriculture, and economic standards on either side of the border, Lorer said.

Later on Tuesday, a forum will be held with the participation of the two countries' chambers of commerce and a memorandum will be signed between the countries' investment funds. In Lorer's words, the priorities of Bulgaria and the Republic of North Macedonia are quite similar. "We want the agencies and businessmen to start cooperating so that this cooperation would not be only at the level of governments and ministries," he noted.

The next meeting of the working group on economy, trade and innovation later this month will be about specific measures related to infrastructure.

RY/DS