Respected Mr. President, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia and on my behalf name, I would like to express our gratitude for your hospitality, which you, Mr. President of the International Fund for Agricultural development and the Government of the Republic of Italy, in the capacity of hosts of the Twenty-fifth Anniversary Session of the Governing Council of IFAD have extended to the Macedonian Delegation.
I am convinced that this important event will provide an opportunity for exchange of experiences and suggestions which bring about a more efficient definition of our strategy for the development of the rural sector in the Republic of Macedonia.

It gives me a great pleasure to see that the International Fund for Agricultural Development still considers the findings and development of instruments and measures pertinent to the development of the rural sector, which invariably lead to the reduction of poverty rate and the improvement of the living standard in such areas, as basic precondition for sustainable economic development and a top priority in its strategy.

The Republic of Macedonia is situated in the center of the Balkan Peninsular, with a total area space of 25,713 km2 and population of 2 million, 1,3 million hectares of the total area is farming land, with 700,000 hectares of arable land. The private sector and individual farmers hold about 80% of this land.

The agriculture, being an important sector in the Macedonian economy, with its output in terms of production and processing, accounts for 18% of the gross domestic product (GDP), and is at a stage of broad structural reforms aimed at its transformation from centralised to market oriented production.

After the independence of the Republic of Macedonia, the policy of the agricultural sector has found its place in the overall changes of the economy, whereby there has been a departure in the process of transition into a market economy from the policy agricultural production managed by the state, with incentives provided to the individual agricultural sector.

In order to accomplish the said goals, the Republic of Macedonia initially started with overcoming of the legal and administrative barriers, where the main institutional support has been given by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy.
Notwithstanding the numerous problems faced by the agricultural sector in this period of transition, the loss of the Former Yugoslav markets, the warfare raging in the country and the region, which have had a negative impact on the development of this important branch of economy, the contribution of agriculture in the gross domestic product is on a permanent rise, this renders this branch a main reducer of the social tensions in the country.

The membership of the Republic of Macedonia in the international institutions and its cooperation of a high number of them have been of vital importance in the ensuring a successful adjustment of this sector to the new market conditions. As a result of such cooperation, a high number of projects and programs have been successfully implemented, and the expectations are that these projects and programs relying on the experience of these institutions, will greatly contribute to the successful transformation of the agriculture in the Republic of Macedonia.

In this context, and in line with the general orientation of the Republic of Macedonia for integration in the broad European family ad the World Trade Organization, the Government of the Republic of Macedonia, by signing the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union Members, and the membership agreement with the World Trade Organization, has embarked upon the process of harmonization of regulations and standards in the agriculture with those of the European Union, whereby the expectations are that the agriculture and the agro-industrial sector will be modernized and restructured.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy lays a special emphasis to the accomplishment of the following priorities underlined u the strategy for development of agriculture and support and promotion of the export of food products and the main orientation towards poverty reduction:

- Successful implementation of the national program for approximation of the Republic of Macedonia legislation;

- Following the recommendations made by the European Commission pertaining to the promotion of competition of agricultural products, provision of efficient the health status of animal and plants and the relevant products so as to ensure protection of the public health, introduction of efficient structure of the control of animal and plant health and high quality of the relevant products.

Thus the solving of the one of the burning problems encountered by the agricultural sector in the Republic of Macedonia at present, which is marketing and sales of our products, will become reality. Improvement of the situation in this closing stage of the agricultural production cycle will ensure that new agricultural [products export markets are conquered.

One of the extremely important segment of our Government program is the development of rural areas and poverty alleviation, which gives rise to expectations regarding the growth of the revenues of agricultural households and small enterprises and stability of rural communities.

In this context, I would like to mention the importance of the interventions made by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in the Republic of Macedonia through a program for crediting in the rural areas which in perspective will allow establishment of a sustainable crediting mechanism that will completely meet the needs of the rural sector an s also will fight the poverty efficiently, through improvement of the living standards and the reduction of unemployment of the active rural population in full working capacity.

Thank you for your attention.