Globalization and the Economy of Macedonia

Globalization as a social and economic process is present and operates worldwide. In countries where it has greater impact, benefits on that country are greater, while in countries where it has less impact, benefits are smaller. Globalization is present in all areas of social and economic life. However, the main lever that urges it to move forward is economy. Globalization has its pros and cons. Most economists support it because the benefits of globalization are much larger than its harm. Increased international trade of a country, the movement and maximum utilization of capital and foreign direct investment, as well as technology development undoubtedly affect positively the economic growth of a country. In this paper, the influence of globalization will not be treated in terms of its impact on any particular economic sector, but on its reflection in macroeconomic indicators such as: GDP, trade exchange, exports, imports, trade deficit, foreign direct investment, poverty etc. Denial of the globalization success achieved would be unfair and even conservative, although not ignoring the problems that are rightly pointed out by skeptics. Both sides, skeptics as well as optimists are wrong to protect at all costs and exaggerate their thesis. The process of globalization should be studied on scientific, realistic and objective basis. Macedonia cannot be avoided by globalization. With the country's independence, Macedonia's economy opened to the global economy, although the benefits from trade liberalization are not that great. Country with the WTO membership increased its foreign trade exchange, but at the other hand it decorated the relationship between export and import. Lacking competitive goods and services into global market, the country failed to reduce its trade deficit, but rather it has been increasing more and more every year. Globalization has not given its fruits in Macedonia in terms of attracting foreign direct investment. The country ranks among the last ones in terms of attracting FDI. Benefits from increased FDI would be welcomed in Macedonia's fragile economy, especially in reducing the number of unemployed people, which remains one of the greatest concerns of the country. Guidelines for the benefit of the economy of Macedonia from the fruits of globalization will be the focus of this paper.