can it be more frustrating than this?
September 5, 2006
catesbool
i’m supposed to fly off to macedonia tomorrow with a confirmed ticket at 12noon. the problem is i do not have a visa.
i have been waiting for a visa from the macedonian embassy for the last three weeks and up to now, i haven’t got any. can it be more frustrating than this?
macedonia is an eastern european country with more than 2 million population. its gross national product and gross domestic product has been growing very slowly and steadily for the past 6 or 7 years but there is a growing inequality within the economy as its gini index went up from 28% to 32% as of 2003. manufacturing comprises a big chunk of its economy, a big portion of which is in the textile industry. majority of the population is educated but it also has a very high unemployment rate. it is pushing for economic growth to enable it to become an EU member, aside from trying to create enough employment for its unemployed portion of the population. to do this, they are trying to attract foreign investment into the country.
but how can macedonia try to attract foreign investment in its country when the simple act of trying to apply for a visa takes them forever to process? the length of time they take in processing visa applications can be put down into trying to take security measures and a matter of protocol. but three weeks?
administrative cost-wise, this should be a point of reflection for macedonia. the longer they take in processing visa applications, and other applications within their country for that matter, makes it costly for people who want to come into their country to do some business. lengthy adminstrative requirements put off investors who can easily transfer their attentions to other countries where the costs are at par and the returns of their money can be easily reaped.
i am no investor, mind you. i just want to do my data gathering there and finish my research paper. but the processing of the visa application is slower than a turtle. and the act of trying to wait has been gnawing at me already. it’s making me so frustrated that it has prevented me from doing any decent work on my paper - which is an irony considering that i am trying to look at how insertion of textile firms in a value chain can promote decent work of workers in macedonia.
today, i am sitting on a 270 euros worth of plane ticket that may just go to waste on account of slllllllllllllllloooooooooowwwwwwwwww response from the macedonian embassy. by all rights, i should be freaking out. i want to freak out. i want to freak out. if i say this over and over again, maybe it would make me feel a little better and a little less frustrated. but i know it won’t.
i have two options: to cry or to throw things at the people in the embassy. in both cases, i’m reduced to a frustrated sitting duck. i feel like i’m trying to jump over a fence only to find it was a big chunk of macedonia’s stupid wall after all.
macedonia, bloody macedonia! whereforth is mineth visa? your administrative system is the worst in efficiency that i have seen so far. no wonder investments in your country is running like an old-coughed-up-car!
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