Skopje, 25 April 2023 (MIA) – President Stevo Pendarovski pointed out during the opening of Tuesday’s conference on the obstacles of the economic crisis for the traditional industries and creative sectors, organized by his Cabinet in cooperation with Macedonia 2025, that at a time when crises keep increasing in number, intensity and complexity, the key dilemma is securing development in times of uncertainty. As a factor that offers a solution, the President pointed to digital transformation, and the innovation ecosystem as a favorable environment to use and mitigate its risks.

The Macedonian startup ecosystem stands before three great challenges including the migration of the young population, the educational challenge or the lack of highly qualified workforce with digital skills and relevant capabilities as a main obstacle for innovations in the Western Balkans and the country.

“Instead of wasting time on political topics that preoccupy us 24/7, all political factors need to build a consensus around creating an innovative ambience because it’s a vital national interest. The development priorities we identify are the digital transformation through the promotion of the digital economy and education, raising digital literacy, the development of the Macedonian IT sector and full digitalization of all public services. Let’s leave the downward spiral of outdated education, unemployment and poverty, social exclusion and mass migration,” Pendarovski said.

He added that the state plays a triple role in the strategic step that is the 2021-2041 National Development Strategy that the Government is creating, which is to build a modern education that’s adapted to world trends and the demands of the labor market, followed by regulation of the framework in which these ecosystems would function through clear rules, and thirdly, to create conditions necessary for the ecosystems to generate profits for investors, as well as long-term societal benefit because the country must be a social state according to its Constitution.

Deputy PM for Economic Affairs Fatmir Bytyqi said in his address that the current generations push changes that format the overall system, which require quick responses, quick modelling and a series of economic policies, measures and activities.

“North Macedonia has shown its sense of institutional avant-garde in this domain. We recently introduced the first digital assistant ADA as an important element in the implementation of national economic policies to support new investments, as well as an important institutional step forward in motivating the development of entrepreneurial awareness in the country that will have built a sensibility for the importance and necessity of digital transformation, especially in the segment of AI integration in business processes in order to reduce costs and increase profits,” Bytyqi said.

The Innovation and Technological Development Fund is the central institution to motivate and support innovation and said that 1080 projects have been co-financed by this institution, with a joint value of investments of around EUR 112 million, of which over 50% are startups, he added.

The fourth industrial revolution has set its criteria before the traditional industry production, which now has to fulfil them in order to keep its competitiveness and resilience to economic crises.

Mike Zafirovski, one of the co-founders and member of the Board of Directors of Macedonia 2025 also addressed the conference, emphasizing that things that are promised must be fulfilled. He mentioned conversations with the late President Boris Trajkovski in which they agreed there is no successful country without local companies, and stressing the importance of foreign investors. dk/nn/

Photo: MIA