Tuesday, 8 March 2022
MEETING BETWEEN PRESIDENT XHAFERI AND WORLD BANK DIRECTOR MS LINDA VAN GELDER
The President of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia, Talat Xhaferi, met today with Ms Linda Van Gelder, World Bank Director and Mr Massimiliano Paolucci, World Bank Country Manager for North Macedonia and Kosovo.
The topic of the meeting was World Bank’s five-year Country Partnership Framework (CPF), which aims to support the Republic of North Macedonia in achieving faster, inclusive and sustainable growth and to provide its citizens with greater opportunities for a better life. This framework provides the Republic of North Macedonia with funds for local roads, Corridor 8, agriculture, primary education and other areas for 2019-2023.
Ms Linda Van Gelder referred to the realized projects and the used finances from the funds, which benefit the citizens of the Republic of North Macedonia, as well as to the expectations that the state has in the coming period. Van Gelder expressed interest in the process and dynamics of the adoption of laws in this area, especially the Law on Budgets.
President Xhaferi clarified that the Law on Budgets has been stuck in parliamentary procedure for almost 2 years, since it has not been considered in the second reading by the Finances and Budget Committee, which currently has no Chair. The President stressed that the adoption of such a law is not only a step forward in public finance 
management but also a step towards our membership in the European Union, and by blocking the adoption of the law the opposition has not shown much interest in the interests of the country.
The interlocutors agreed that the Republic of North Macedonia and the Region are not immune to the current situation in Ukraine. The world is living in uncertainty at the moment and that is why it is especially important to overcome the narrow party and daily interests of certain stakeholders and to put emphasis on the interests of the citizens.