THE ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF THE TEXTILE INDUSTRY IN THE NATIONAL ECONOMY OF THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: SHARE OF GDP, EXPORTS AND EMPLOYMENT

The focus of this paper is the analysis of the role of the textile industry in the national economy of the Republic of Macedonia. The main objective is to consider what determines the actual structure in this particular industry and how it affects the national economic categories, such as: the gross domestic product, exports and the level of employment. The research resultspresent that more than one third of the total exports, as well as more than one third of the employed population in the manufacturing sector accounted for the textile industry, but this industry creates only 3% of the national GDP. Conclusions reveal that the above mentioned statistics is due to the very low level of additional value among all the products that consist this industry’s exports. It is expected that the developed countrieswould tend to keep the creative activities of the manufacturing process in their own terms and transfer the basic production activities in other less developed countries. But the textile companies from the countries in the South-East Europe (among which is the Republic of Macedonia) could play the role of a bridge between the modern textile brands and the niche producers in MiddleandFar East.