Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski was in the village of Kravari, near Bitola, on Saturday, for the opening of a new factory by an Australian immigrant who returned to his home town. Gordanco Mircevski bought an old plant in this part of the country badly affected by emigration, and opened a new potato chips plant.

"In both our recent and more distant past, Macedonia was affected by waves of emigration. But, our diaspora continues to help us out in every sense of the word. Unfortunately, Macedonians living abroad were often faced with difficulties when they would try to invest their hard earned funds in their native land. My Government has changed this situation, and over the past years we have worked strongly to improve relations with the Macedonian diaspora, have it involved in domestic political developments, business developments and reforms", Gruevski said during the opening of the new factory.

Mircevski's plant will hire about 100 workers, for a total investment of three million EUR. Mircevski said that he was encouraged to return to Macedonia from Australia by the improvements in the business climate that were developed over the past years. "The good relationship of the Government toward the investors prompted me to come back. This is not a major investment, but still I received support, understanding and respect. Currently Macedonia imports potato chips, despite the fact that we are major producers of potatoes. We intend to begin by processing 5.000 tons of potatoes and initially place our product in Macedonia, with aim to invest in European and Australian markets", Mircevski said.