Some of them have announced teams of business delegates from their respective countries would also be in Kolkata for the two day (Jan 16 and 17) big ticket event  to scout for business opportunities.

Dr Toni Atanasovski, the Ambassador of The Republic of Macedonia, a small Balkan nation with one-fourth the population of Kolkata, would also be attending the BGBS 2018 with an objective to forge business and cultural ties with Bengal.

Republic of Macedonia and India have a very special cultural link through St Teresa of Kolkata or Mother Teresa who was born in Skopje, the capital city of the Republic of Macedonia.

According to a World Bank report for the Year 2017, Macedonia has been ranked the 10th best country in the world in terms of Ease of Doing Business.

Macedonia had, in September 2017, opened its Honorary Consul office in Kolkata by appointing industrialist Namit Bajoria as the Honorary Consul in Kolkata.

“While ties between India and Macedonia go back to the ancient times, in recent times there has been a sense of shared heritage between the two countries with the canonisation of Mother Teresa. Kolkata and Skopje are like soul mates,” said Dr Atanasovski, Ambassador of Republic of Macedonia in India, in a free-wheeling talk with India Blooms News Service.

Macedonia is likely to approach the Bengal government with a proposal to declare Skopje and Kolkata as twin cities. Mother Teresa was born in Skopje and later chose Calcutta as her home. “Republic of Macedonia is looking beyond cultural ties to forge business, trade and tourism with India and Bengal,” said Namit Bajoria, Honorary Consul, Republic of Macedonia in Kolkata.

Highlighting some of the common factors between Kolkata and Skopje, Bajoria said that Skopje is a beautiful city which underwent a major beautification drive similar to the one which is currently undertaken by the state government in Kolkata.

“I am here to have an understanding of the business opportunities and advantages Bengal has to offer to foreign investors. There is always the scope of joint ventures which I look forward to. Macedonia also has a robust policy for investing in trade and business through which one can tap the European Union market,” Dr Atanasovski said.

Macedonia also has some very beautiful and scenic tourist spots like Ohrid and Ohrid Lake declared as Cultural and Natural World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. These spots offer ideal locales for shooting films.

Macedonia is currently building one of the largest cathedrals in Skopje dedicated to Mother Teresa, informed Dr Toni Atanasovski.

Bajoria said: “We would look forward to taking a cultural and business delegation from Kolkata to Skopje for the inauguration programme."

Namit Bajoria had donated a statue of Mother Teresa which was installed at the Archbishop’s House in Kolkata in 2016