An agreement on Macedonia's admission was signed in Skopje by its Economy Minister Fatmir Besimi, a state secretary at the Croatian economy ministry, Vladimir Vrankovic, a state undersecretary at the Romanian economy ministry, Nicolae Romulus Buzdun, and Bulgarian Ambassador to Macedonia Miho Mihov.
Vrankovic told Hina over the telephone the agreement was expected to increase Croatian exports and investment in Macedonia.
He said Croatia believed in CEFTA's future, especially if some terms required for accession were modernised, and that Croatia had the support of other CEFTA member states for the association's further enlargement. He added that in unofficial talks today the Romanian side expressed interest in Moldova's accession.
Macedonia applied for membership in 2004 and since then two rounds of multilateral and three rounds of bilateral negotiations were held. The prime ministers of CEFTA member states decided that Macedonia should join at a meeting in Zagreb last November.
Croatia's exports to Macedonia in 2005 were USD 81.4 million, up 10.1 per cent from 2004, while imports from Macedonia were USD 144.7 million, an increase of 24.1 per cent.