Property in Macedonia World Bank Supports Cadastre and Land Policy Reforms in Macedonia

The World Bank today approved a US$14 million loan for the Real Estate Cadastre and Registration Project (RECRP) for Macedonia. This project will assist the government in its effort to improve the business environment and facilitate foreign and domestic investment. The objective of the project is to accelerate the establishment of the real estate cadastre system and the registration of rights; improve institutional processes and procedures to provide efficient registration services; and help developing capacity to formulate policies in order to achieve efficient property markets.

 The uncertainty of property rights is one of the major constraints to investment and overall economic development in Macedonia. Confidence in registration and cadastre records is low as the records are significantly out-of-date, and 60 to 70 percent of apartments are not registered at all. The foremost task of RECRP is to reverse this negative trend by building an efficient real estate cadastre and registration system, contributing to the development of efficient land and real estate markets.

“Everyone agrees that the an efficient cadastre system and developed land markets belong to the group of basic factors in attracting foreign and domestic investments,” said Wael Zakout, head of the World Bank team designing the project. “This operation will help completing the real estate cadastre system and build institutional capacity of the national cadastre and registration agency to be able to complete transactions in one day.”

 The Real Estate Cadastre and Registration Project has three main components:

 •           Completing the Real Estate Cadastre - this component will support the completion of real  

            estate cadastre and registration of rights in the country by the end of 2009.

•           Institutional Development and Improving Service Delivery - the objective of this component is

            to transform SAGW into a modern and efficient national cadastre and registration agency,

            and improve service delivery of all local and regional offices with a goal to complete the

            registration of transactions in one day by the end of the project.

•           Development of Land Policy - this component will support the government's capacity to

            formulate and develop policies that needed to ensure the completion of the real estate

            cadastre and the full functioning of the land and real estate.