I do not know which of the two sides, benefited more from the cooperation between the World Bank and the Republic of Macedonia. But I strongly believe that the cooperation with the World Bank has played (and still plays) very important financial and advisory role in strengthening the institutional capacities of our country and in boosting the economic development. The amount of capital invested by this institution in the Republic of Macedonia is known, in the years when it was most important to us, when our access to other sources of funds was incredibly difficult and much more expensive. Reforms that were and still are implemented in our country with the assistance of the World Bank are well known: the judiciary, health care, tax system, pension system, decentralization, increasing competitiveness, etc. The positive role of the World Bank in the issues that are extremely important for us is clear, and we call it by the common name – structural reforms, a set of issues without whose advancement we would not have approached the doors of the Euro-Atlantic integrated systems. I think that for that contribution, i.e. the result of our partnership with the World Bank we should use every opportunity to say thank you. Working together on the structural reforms, many of our institutions, members of the administration, and even politicians became acquainted with the best practices in the world in many important areas of the economy, and in general the organization of work, important for improving the quality of life.
Petar Goshev: Opening of the Joint Public Information Center of the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia and the World Bank Address by Mr Petar Goshev, Governor of the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia, at the opening of the Joint Public Information Center of the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia (NBRM) and the World Bank, Skopje, 16 December 2010. *  *  *  Dear Ms. Lilia Burunchuk, Director of the World Bank Office in Skopje, Dear Mr. Alexander Tieman, IMF Resident Representative for the Republic of Macedonia, Your Excellencies, Dear guests, Dear ladies and gentlemen! Please allow me to greet you and express my pleasure that today we have the opportunity to attend two important events. The first, which we will gladly enjoy for a longer period of time – the official opening of the Joint Public Information Center of the NBRM and the World Bank. And the second, the presentation of the Annual Regional Report of the IMF, an event which is always extremely interesting because it is an analysis made by a highcaliber institution, such as the IMF. Dear guests, The partnership of the Republic of Macedonia and the World Bank lasts for nearly two decades. Good results of this partnership are evident. The partnership by definition rests on the benefit for both parties, i.e. for all who gathered together in achieving a goal.