Monday, 14 July 2014
BUILDING PERSONAL CONTACTS BETWEEN MACEDONIA AND AUSTRALIA IS IMPORTANT
The Chair of the Parliamentary Group of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia for Cooperation with the Parliament of Australia, Mr. Ilija Dimovski met the President of the Parliament of Western Australia, Honourable Michael Sutherland.
The Members of the Parliamentary Group of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia for Cooperation with the Parliament of Australia; the Ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia to Australia, Mr. Vele Trpevski and the Honorary Consul to the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Zoran Kostovski attended the meeting.
Mr. Ilija Dimovski underlined that the Republic of Macedonia invested efforts for strengthening the relations with the Parliaments of Australia and the Federal Parliament and that the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia has realized many meetings with the Parliaments of Australia which contribute in the relations not only between the Parliaments, but the states in general.
He also informed the guest on several topics which were discussed on parliamentary level, among which the education – the possibilities for scholarships and student exchange.
In this context Mr. Sutherland underlined that one of the ways for development of the relations between Macedonia and Australia is through the exchange of high school students and university students, who will become ambassadors of their countries.
The meeting referred to the relaxation of the visa policy towards the Republic of Macedonia and Mr. Sutherland informed that they have the similar problem with the Serbian Community but that these problems are solved on federal level.
He underlined that the Macedonian Community in Perth was not that active in the local councils, but that recently it is rising on the level of other communities in Perth, such as the Italian and Greek Community. He is convinced that in near future the Macedonian Community will be represented in the Parliament as well. Mr. Sutherland concluded that building personal contacts is of outmost importance, regardless if the discussions are for visas, economy or other topics.