Together with Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Fatmir Bitichi, Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Bojan Marichic held an online coordination meeting with the Sectoral Working Group on Programming the EU Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) in the field of Competitiveness and Innovations for the period 2021-2027.

“We must have coordination in planning and setting priorities at the strategic level, in order to ensure complementarity and synergy of the donor assistance and, most importantly, to avoid duplication of assistance. This requires that we take into account the reforms related to the EU integration, planned in the National Program for Adoption of the EU Acquis Communautaire, as a comprehensive national strategic and program document guiding the European integration process, as well as the ongoing National Development Plan and the Economic Reform Program”, Deputy Prime Minister and National IPA Coordinator Marichic said.

Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Fatmir Bitichi said that they have a specific task, which is to define what is most important for the sector in the coming years and what will be financed in the medium term with the best possible effects, for the sake of which he called on all stakeholders from the public and the private sector, the community of civil society organizations, the donor community and of course the European Commission, to take part in building a social consensus and to join efforts and resources to jointly achieve the best for our country.

“The strategic response of North Macedonia for the period 2021 - 2027 to Window 4, which covers competitiveness and inclusive growth, and more specifically to Thematic Priority 2, which refers to the development of the private sector, trade, and research and innovation, sets three goals through which the country should prepare for the European internal market, improve its regulatory and business and investment institutional framework, increase the competitiveness of enterprises, strengthen the exports and diversification, internationalize its economy, and at the same time respond to the challenges of the circular/green economy, all through intensified research, technological development and innovation, Deputy Prime Minister Bitichi said.

At the meeting, Bitichi gave a brief overview of the process of drafting the National Development Strategy of the country, a document of national importance that defines all the challenges facing our society, informing that this document will identify the available national potentials and resources and will bring together under one umbrella all development plans for the next 20 years. Finally, through a wide inclusive process, it will give all of us room to create together a vision for our country in which we will all want to live, Deputy Prime Minister Bitichi added.