Business: Ohrid hosts tourism fair
22/01/2010
Macedonia promotes tourism through foreign tour operators. Also in business news: the World Bank approves a loan for Republika Srpska, and a Cypriot coin wins the first prize at an international competition.
 Macedonia has been included in the list of the 31 top tourist destinations worth visiting in 2010 by the New York Times. [Tomislav Georgiev] |
A three-day International Tourism Fair wrapped up on Tuesday (January 19th) in Ohrid, Macedonia. The event brought together representatives of 25 travel agencies from Israel, Bulgaria,Turkey, Serbia, Albania, Kosovo, Italy, Hungary and Montenegro. The event promoted Macedonia to foreign travel agents as a tourist destination.
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The World Bank approved two loans totalling 35m euros for Republika Srpska (RS), the entity's Finance Minister, Aleksandar Dzombic, said on Wednesday (January 20th). Dzombic said some will cover budget support while the remaining funds go to a project enhancing social security of employees. RS expects to receive the money in three to four months.
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The Cypriot 2-euro coin won the first prize and the title "Best Trade Coin" in an international competition organised by the publisher of the US magazine World Coin News, the Central Bank of Greece announced. The coin -- representing the island's prehistoric art and civilisation -- depicts a cross-shaped idol dating to 3,000 BC, The award ceremony will be held at the World Money Centre in Berlin on January 30th.
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Two Israeli businessmen plan to invest 8.24m euros in an ecological Aqua Park near Gospic, Croatia. The park, covering 75,000 square metres, will consist of an aquarium, a zoo, a hotel and a sports hall. The investors presented the project on January 14th.
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A US-Turkish consortium won a bid Monday (January 18th) to build the first modern highway in Kosovo linking south Serbia with northwest Albania. The Ministry of Transport is still negotiating details before signing a final agreement with Bechtel-Enka.
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The Albanian government has set aside 15m euros to help local farmers. The Ministry of Agriculture will award grants worth about 2,000 euros to each farmer who joins the programme to cultivate olives, citrus and other organic products yielding high profits.
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The rating agency Moody's revised its outlook on Bulgaria from stable to positive on Thursday (January 21st), returning the country to pre-crisis level, according to a press release. The outlook for foreign currency bonds and foreign currency deposit ceilings were also upgraded to positive.
(Various sources -- 15/01/10-22/01/10)
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