Davos Forum: North Macedonia PM outlines energy investment plans

Prime Minister of North Macedonia Hristijan Mickoski addressed the North Macedonian public via video following a successful day participating at the energy panel during World Economic Forum in Davos.

Mickoski highlighted the productive and inspiring meetings he held with numerous multinational companies, CE Report quotes MIA.

“Today, we had, I would say, very successful and inspiring meetings with a large number of multinational companies, covering topics in the fields of energy, healthcare, and high technology,” he said.

Of course, we presented the opportunities for investment in Macedonia, in the Macedonian economy, something that will create added value for the Macedonian citizens.

But what I want to highlight in particular is the second part of the day: the energy panel, where I participated as a speaker alongside U.S. Energy Secretary Mr. Wright. The panel brought together nearly the entire global leadership in energy, with companies from every continent, each with turnovers in the trillions. At the panel, we talked about the outlook and plans for energy development in the years ahead, especially in the field of electricity production.

Why the focus on electricity production? From this energy panel, I would highlight three main key points:

First, the demand for energy worldwide will increase in the years ahead, but electricity demand will grow two and a half times faster. As a country, Macedonia cannot remain a passive observer but must be an active participant. This means restarting potentially forgotten energy projects from the past, including Chebren, Galishte, Boshkov Most, and others. We also need to present the potential for investment in renewable energy to the many investors who showed strong interest during the post-panel discussions.

The second important point is that in the next ten years, the new electricity generation capacities around the world will need to produce a total of 40,000 terawatt-hours of electricity. How much electricity is that? It is 2,500 times more than Macedonia currently consumes and approximately equal to the combined electricity consumption of the U.S., Canada, the EU, and Japan. Why is this needed? Because the future development of humanity will include artificial intelligence and the growth of data centers, which operate entirely on electricity.

These are the three key points, which are very important, and as a country, we must follow this path and develop our economy accordingly. From an economy historically based on the automotive industry, we need to diversify our portfolio and become a significant player, taking into account the performance and potential we offer in the energy sector. I am convinced that our country can do this, and I am confident we will succeed.