The President of the Economic Chamber, Branko Azeski, held a working meeting with the management of Philip Morris in Skopje at the company’s business premises, together with Director Ivan Kostić and Vasilka Salevska, a member of the Chamber’s Management Board.

The meeting focused on the current business climate and the conditions under which companies operate in the country. Representatives of Philip Morris, as a foreign-owned company that has been operating in Macedonia for several years, noted that the global business environment presents its own challenges; nevertheless, they have been able to achieve their planned objectives and targets. They pointed to certain issues faced both by their company and by other companies in the tobacco sector, which jointly operate within the Chamber through the Association of Tobacco and Tobacco Products Manufacturers.

As a socially responsible company contributing to the country’s economic development, Philip Morris emphasized outstanding issues related to customs policy, noting that there is room for certain adjustments, particularly given that the sector, as an export-oriented industry, has a significant positive impact on the state budget on multiple grounds.

At the meeting, President Azeski stressed that the Economic Chamber, as the House of Business, remains committed to acting in the interests of companies in addressing all outstanding issues they face. It was announced that a visit to the Prilep Tobacco Combine, a company within the Philip Morris corporation, will be organized in the coming period in order to gain first-hand insight into its production capacities. It was further noted that, in the interest of the company, knowledge-sharing and the transfer of new technologies from other corporate entities within the Philip Morris group operating in other countries should be leveraged to introduce innovations at the production facilities in Macedonia, supporting their continued development.