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September 2008 Edition
The process of introducing the One-Stop-Shop system in Macedonia was an initiative derived from the recommendations of the European Commission, regarding the obstacles in trade economy and fulfillment of the criteria and achievement of the standards set for the business environment.
The program has been supported by international donors such as: IMF, EAR, USAID, World Bank, FIAS, UNDP
Why One-Stop-Shop?
Macedonia is facing a low economic growth; it remains on the last place compared to the other countries in the region regarding the foreign direct investments. As a result of this fact, all governments that Macedonia had until now, have set the attraction of foreign investments as their priority goal, as an important stimulation for the economic progress of the country.
In order to attract foreign investments, Macedonia has introduced the One-Stop-Shop system. This system has also been introduced by many European public administrations. It has a service-offering character and serves as an interface between the citizens and the public administration.
Business reforms in Macedonia
Areas of Reform: Starting a Business, Registering Property, Getting Credit (Information), Paying Taxes, Trading Across Borders, Enforcing Contracts.
Doing Business 2009, rank: 71 (Source: Doing Business 2009, annual report comparing business regulations)
Facilities provided by the One-Stop-Shop system
Macedonia implemented the One-Stop-Shop system on January 1st, 2006. The One-Stop-Shop offers a certain number of facilities for the investors mainly resulting in reducing administrative barriers and start-up costs.
Its main objective is to reduce the number of days for setting a new business (used to be 48 days and after introducing the system, it was reduced to 5 days) and to improve the overall business climate in Macedonia. The system is designed to be simple, fast and most important - less expensive. It operates within the Central Register via 32 electronically integrated offices located throughout the country. The system offers business registration in four hours, in a single office and getting all information in one place.
Recently World Bank published the latest Doing Business report. The report mentions that Macedonia has updated the One-Stop-Shop system in order to carry out the full range of business start-up processes, to reduce both the number of procedures and the time required. The report also states that the time required to export has been reduced from 19 to 17 days and the time to import from 17 to 15 days, as a result of the rationalization of the customs fee schedule and permit structure, improved risk-based inspections, simplification of a customs procedure, and elimination of a document requirement.
Although, the One-Stop-Shop system in a certain level has influenced the business climate, having in mind the current index of the foreign direct investments its implementation advantages are yet to come!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Beyond Blogging: Macedonia: Exploring new media
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July 2008 Edition
Beyond Blogging:
Macedonia: Exploring new media
For a while now, the world is faced with “blogging fever” a new media revolution reflecting the hunger for fresh and nontraditionally served information. Following the email and webpage, the blog has become original tool for communication aspiring to maintain stronger relationship and loyalty with the consumers. By starting up numerous individual blogs, blog platforms and blog-related activities Macedonia has shyly joined the global blogosphere. But is Macedonian blogging community strong enough to handle the mainstream media impact? Will it make “blogging” not just a modern and quite cheap but also a powerful medium? And finally, can we rely on the information on blogs?
Mapping Macedonian Blogosphere
QUICK FACTS:
First Macedonian Blog launched: 2001
The most popular blog platform: Blogeraj http://blog.com.mk/
The estimated number of active Macedonian Blogs: 20 000
The estimated number of daily visitors of the most popular blogs: 100-200
Some interesting Macedonian Blogs: bukarski.blog.com.mk, femgerila.blog.com.mk,
arheo.com.mk, kvadraturanakrug.blog.com.mk, qzevski.blog.com.mk, oksimoron.blog.com.mk, antipunkt.blogspot.com, vuna.info..
As probably elsewhere in the world, the number of blog users in Macedonian blogosphere is rapidly growing. The reason could be in the fact that blog-hosting services have made it easy to create a blog or perhaps the blog itself attracts new followers. Nevertheless, some data shows that the assumed number does not necessarily fit the actual status quo since very large portion of Macedonian blogs are not active and do not publish new posts regularly. Many have just opened accounts to test the service or to comment on others’ posts. Unofficially, today they are around 20,000 blogs (both individual and corporate) feeding Macedonian blogosphere. According to a survey conducted by New Media Center, 58.8% of Macedonian internet users have their own blogs. However, the picture looks like a mosaic of a few outstanding and a huge number of less-known blogs, each contributing in particular genre starting from an ordinary diaries, travel chronicles to technical advice columns and political commentary or as the same survey shows the most of them (35.8%) read 2-3 blogs daily. Still, in the last couple of years the Macedonian blogosphere has made significant development. Macedonian blogers joined the formal Association of Blogers of Macedonia and under their mentorship the first Youth Blog Training was conducted in June this year. Last year, New Media Center organized MK Blog conference where interesting topics related to progress of the network society were discussed while this year New York University Skopje hosted the Second International Conference Glocal 2.0: Blogging: Evolution treated as Revolution which gathered international group of researchers and practitioners (bloggers) for a discussion and analysis on the emerging networked society. These are only part of the activities initiated and organized by Macedonian bloggers. Maybe most interesting fact are Macedonian blogers themselves - writers, poets who published books whose content was already published on their blogs. (Bukarski, Kostadinova;“Izdanie –Blog zapisi” etc.)
Avoiding the trap: Is it really credible source of information!?
While skeptics question the credibility of information posted due to the absence of any quality control mechanisms, the usual answers given by Macedonian blogers is that the true quality debate starts exactly after posting the opinion which is not case in traditional media where the information is simply served and hardly unbiased. Blogs are exactly about “keeping the finger on the pulse” - feeling what are the readers reactions to certain ideas, stories. This gives them a freedom to choose what to believe in. That is how, despite the above mentioned constraints, the blog appears to play a very important role in public debate sphere. Besides, internet users prefer blogs also because they keep them updated with the latest trends, they are interesting and fun and mostly because of the obvious biases.
After all, easy to start, sometimes hard to maintain, blogs remains the most dynamic, inconsistent but still very promising source of fresh, objective and challenging information and equal opportunities space. Macedonia has accepted the challenge and became part of the global blogging community, of course, putting on it its own original mark.
Sources “Short History of Macedonian Blogosphere” byF.Stojanovski.
New media Center on line Survey presented at Glocal 2.0: Blogging: Evolution treated as Revolution
July 2008 Edition
Beyond Blogging:
Macedonia: Exploring new media
For a while now, the world is faced with “blogging fever” a new media revolution reflecting the hunger for fresh and nontraditionally served information. Following the email and webpage, the blog has become original tool for communication aspiring to maintain stronger relationship and loyalty with the consumers. By starting up numerous individual blogs, blog platforms and blog-related activities Macedonia has shyly joined the global blogosphere. But is Macedonian blogging community strong enough to handle the mainstream media impact? Will it make “blogging” not just a modern and quite cheap but also a powerful medium? And finally, can we rely on the information on blogs?
Mapping Macedonian Blogosphere
QUICK FACTS:
First Macedonian Blog launched: 2001
The most popular blog platform: Blogeraj http://blog.com.mk/
The estimated number of active Macedonian Blogs: 20 000
The estimated number of daily visitors of the most popular blogs: 100-200
Some interesting Macedonian Blogs: bukarski.blog.com.mk, femgerila.blog.com.mk,
arheo.com.mk, kvadraturanakrug.blog.com.mk, qzevski.blog.com.mk, oksimoron.blog.com.mk, antipunkt.blogspot.com, vuna.info..
As probably elsewhere in the world, the number of blog users in Macedonian blogosphere is rapidly growing. The reason could be in the fact that blog-hosting services have made it easy to create a blog or perhaps the blog itself attracts new followers. Nevertheless, some data shows that the assumed number does not necessarily fit the actual status quo since very large portion of Macedonian blogs are not active and do not publish new posts regularly. Many have just opened accounts to test the service or to comment on others’ posts. Unofficially, today they are around 20,000 blogs (both individual and corporate) feeding Macedonian blogosphere. According to a survey conducted by New Media Center, 58.8% of Macedonian internet users have their own blogs. However, the picture looks like a mosaic of a few outstanding and a huge number of less-known blogs, each contributing in particular genre starting from an ordinary diaries, travel chronicles to technical advice columns and political commentary or as the same survey shows the most of them (35.8%) read 2-3 blogs daily. Still, in the last couple of years the Macedonian blogosphere has made significant development. Macedonian blogers joined the formal Association of Blogers of Macedonia and under their mentorship the first Youth Blog Training was conducted in June this year. Last year, New Media Center organized MK Blog conference where interesting topics related to progress of the network society were discussed while this year New York University Skopje hosted the Second International Conference Glocal 2.0: Blogging: Evolution treated as Revolution which gathered international group of researchers and practitioners (bloggers) for a discussion and analysis on the emerging networked society. These are only part of the activities initiated and organized by Macedonian bloggers. Maybe most interesting fact are Macedonian blogers themselves - writers, poets who published books whose content was already published on their blogs. (Bukarski, Kostadinova;“Izdanie –Blog zapisi” etc.)
Avoiding the trap: Is it really credible source of information!?
While skeptics question the credibility of information posted due to the absence of any quality control mechanisms, the usual answers given by Macedonian blogers is that the true quality debate starts exactly after posting the opinion which is not case in traditional media where the information is simply served and hardly unbiased. Blogs are exactly about “keeping the finger on the pulse” - feeling what are the readers reactions to certain ideas, stories. This gives them a freedom to choose what to believe in. That is how, despite the above mentioned constraints, the blog appears to play a very important role in public debate sphere. Besides, internet users prefer blogs also because they keep them updated with the latest trends, they are interesting and fun and mostly because of the obvious biases.
After all, easy to start, sometimes hard to maintain, blogs remains the most dynamic, inconsistent but still very promising source of fresh, objective and challenging information and equal opportunities space. Macedonia has accepted the challenge and became part of the global blogging community, of course, putting on it its own original mark.
Sources “Short History of Macedonian Blogosphere” byF.Stojanovski.
New media Center on line Survey presented at Glocal 2.0: Blogging: Evolution treated as Revolution
Friday, July 18, 2008
Ecotourism in Macedonia
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JUNE 2008 Edition
Ecotourism in Macedonia
Ecotourism is a tourism which directly or indirectly promotes and supports sustainable economic development. Ecotourism can generate financial support for the formation, management and protection of natural areas. Having no coast, Macedonia can not pretend to become a mass-tourism destination like Croatia or Montenegro. The geographical and climatic conditions of Macedonia are to favour the development of tourism in an ecological environment.
Therefore, Macedonia should follow the example of small countries with very rich natural and ecological reserves such as Costa Rica or Nepal, for which ecotourism has become an important source of income. The drawback of ecotourism, like any kind of tourism, is that it can lead to a certain loss of values or customs, that is why Macedonia should implement very carefully ecotourism facilities with the outside assistance of NGO’s for a backup option due to uncertainties of the tourism market.
QUICK FACTS:
Number of tourists (2006): 499, 473 (total)
domestic: 297, 116;
foreign: 202, 357 ;
Number of tourists in Lake Ohrid: 250, 000 domestic and foreign in 2007;
Employees: around 11, 000;
Increase of employment (2007-08): 41.4%
Countries of origin of tourists (mostly): Serbia: 17%; Greece : 11%; Bulgaria : 9%; Albania : 7%.
Modest Beginnings
In December 2007, the Ministry of economy of Macedonia finally announced a development strategy for tourism until 2012. The strategy aims to create more than 2,000 new jobs and to improve by 28% the foreign and domestic investment in the tourism sector.
Ecotourism is still at a starting stage in Macedonia. Nevertheless, several local initiatives have already been undertaken: in the Skopje region, five ecotourism zones have been selected: Vodno-Matka, Jakupica, Taor, Katlanovo and Skopska Crna Gora. The political party DOM is setting up an eco-village in Babino and is promoting cultural tourism in Vitoliste in Mariovo district. A Macedonian emigrant is trying to renew in an environmental friendly way the village of Janse in Reka region in order to prevent the inhabitants to leave the village.
But until now, the most significant ongoing projects are implemented with international cooperation: the project “Sustainable development through ecotourism and environmental education in protected areas”, financed by the German agency GTZ, is implemented in Galicica National Park by the Alliance for Lake Cooperation in Ohrid and Prespa with the help of six NGOs from Serbia, Albania and Bulgaria.
Big Potential
EU funds, through the pre-accession assistance and neignbourhood policy, are good source for developing eco-tourism. Through the European Neighbourhood Policy, the EU is financing the development of ecotourism in Bosilovo and Monospitovo and a project for nature protection in the cross boarder zone of Dupnica-Kriva Palanka. This also helps Macedonia to follow Bulgarian examples where ecotourism is at a more developed state. Bilateral initiatives aiming promotion of ecotourism need also to be taken in consideration, like the pilot ecotourism project implemented by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in Brajcino area.
Macedonia has a considerable potential for ecotourism with not less than 33 natural conservation areas. International cooperation can really help Macedonia for the capacity building and organizational development of ecotourism but it is to the government to have a clear strategy: it is its role to take the optimal decisions and to create proper conditions for ecotourism so that the actors concerned could effectively benefit from it. The state has really to engage Macedonia into the niche of ecotourism through marketing campaign and to become conscious of the advantages from the respect of Macedonian nature. Indeed, ecotourism is unsustainable without ecology, so real efforts have to be done to clean the country and to improve individual awareness on environmental issues, so that 2009 could really become the year for green initiatives in Macedonia.
JUNE 2008 Edition
Ecotourism in Macedonia
Ecotourism is a tourism which directly or indirectly promotes and supports sustainable economic development. Ecotourism can generate financial support for the formation, management and protection of natural areas. Having no coast, Macedonia can not pretend to become a mass-tourism destination like Croatia or Montenegro. The geographical and climatic conditions of Macedonia are to favour the development of tourism in an ecological environment.
Therefore, Macedonia should follow the example of small countries with very rich natural and ecological reserves such as Costa Rica or Nepal, for which ecotourism has become an important source of income. The drawback of ecotourism, like any kind of tourism, is that it can lead to a certain loss of values or customs, that is why Macedonia should implement very carefully ecotourism facilities with the outside assistance of NGO’s for a backup option due to uncertainties of the tourism market.
QUICK FACTS:
Number of tourists (2006): 499, 473 (total)
domestic: 297, 116;
foreign: 202, 357 ;
Number of tourists in Lake Ohrid: 250, 000 domestic and foreign in 2007;
Employees: around 11, 000;
Increase of employment (2007-08): 41.4%
Countries of origin of tourists (mostly): Serbia: 17%; Greece : 11%; Bulgaria : 9%; Albania : 7%.
Modest Beginnings
In December 2007, the Ministry of economy of Macedonia finally announced a development strategy for tourism until 2012. The strategy aims to create more than 2,000 new jobs and to improve by 28% the foreign and domestic investment in the tourism sector.
Ecotourism is still at a starting stage in Macedonia. Nevertheless, several local initiatives have already been undertaken: in the Skopje region, five ecotourism zones have been selected: Vodno-Matka, Jakupica, Taor, Katlanovo and Skopska Crna Gora. The political party DOM is setting up an eco-village in Babino and is promoting cultural tourism in Vitoliste in Mariovo district. A Macedonian emigrant is trying to renew in an environmental friendly way the village of Janse in Reka region in order to prevent the inhabitants to leave the village.
But until now, the most significant ongoing projects are implemented with international cooperation: the project “Sustainable development through ecotourism and environmental education in protected areas”, financed by the German agency GTZ, is implemented in Galicica National Park by the Alliance for Lake Cooperation in Ohrid and Prespa with the help of six NGOs from Serbia, Albania and Bulgaria.
Big Potential
EU funds, through the pre-accession assistance and neignbourhood policy, are good source for developing eco-tourism. Through the European Neighbourhood Policy, the EU is financing the development of ecotourism in Bosilovo and Monospitovo and a project for nature protection in the cross boarder zone of Dupnica-Kriva Palanka. This also helps Macedonia to follow Bulgarian examples where ecotourism is at a more developed state. Bilateral initiatives aiming promotion of ecotourism need also to be taken in consideration, like the pilot ecotourism project implemented by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in Brajcino area.
Macedonia has a considerable potential for ecotourism with not less than 33 natural conservation areas. International cooperation can really help Macedonia for the capacity building and organizational development of ecotourism but it is to the government to have a clear strategy: it is its role to take the optimal decisions and to create proper conditions for ecotourism so that the actors concerned could effectively benefit from it. The state has really to engage Macedonia into the niche of ecotourism through marketing campaign and to become conscious of the advantages from the respect of Macedonian nature. Indeed, ecotourism is unsustainable without ecology, so real efforts have to be done to clean the country and to improve individual awareness on environmental issues, so that 2009 could really become the year for green initiatives in Macedonia.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
New plastics recycling industry in Macedonia - Truth or Dare?
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MAY 2008 Edition
New plastics recycling industry in Macedonia - Truth or Dare?
The production and use of plastics today is 20 times greater than that of 50 years ago and is expected to increase, driven by its potential for innovation and energy saving, positive contribution to climate protection. However, plastics usage has many disadvantages, like the non-degradable nature, whose disposal creates a solid waste problem. EU policy on Waste Management as implemented in the Framework Directive on waste as amended by Directive 91/156/EEC obliges member states to encourage the reduction of waste and its harmfulness. They also must encourage the recovery of waste and prohibit uncontrolled dumping. The revised Packaging Waste Directive EU directive sets targets for recycling and recovery min. 55% and min. 60 % respectively, with end year of achievement December, 2008.
Macedonia lags well behind with the lack of modern technology and managerial expertise on waste management practices, and is currently undergoing an intensive period of legislative development concerning this issue. What are the present conditions of the plastics recycling industry in Macedonia? Can the private sector involvement in the waste management reach greater efficiency than the public enterprises regarding waste recovery and recycling?
Waste created per inhabitant: 313 kg/inhabitant
Commercial waste: 154.543 t/year (27%of the community solid waste)
Household waste: 417.838 t/year (73% of the community solid waste)
Waste from packaging: 13% from household waste and 30% from commercial waste in total 97.305t/year (17% of the community solid waste)
Total plastic (PET) wastes from packaging (including landfill disposed): 10.748t
Recycled PET waste from packaging: 0.2t
Source: MoEPP, R. Macedonia (2004/05)
Challenging conditions
The capacity for recycling, reuse and recovery of plastic packaging is very limited, with rate of recycling only 0.01%. According to the newly adopted Waste Management Strategy of the Republic of Macedonia (2008-2020) the recovery of many types of potentially recyclable materials (metals, paper, plastics, car batteries and accumulators, waste oils etc.) is not financially viable under the prevailing conditions: lower waste volumes, lower waste fees, higher costs of operating on relatively smaller scale and limited local markets for recyclables that contribute for an increased costs of export for recyclables. These unfavorable conditions are an obstacle for preparation and implementation of the integrated and cost-effective waste management system, regarding waste management recovery and recycling.
In need of encouragement
Data show that mostly the informal sector and private companies deal with collection and recycling of plastics. The cost-effective studies give green light on the private sector for its involvement in the part of managing waste treatment, recovery and recycling. This sector has taken over the resources belonging to the recycling network of former Yugoslavia, and still is not used efficiently due to the costly collection system. However, the implementation of $1.2 million USAID sponsored Plastic Recycling Project in partnership with the municipalities of Karpos, Gostivar, Kocani and Strumica, as well as public and private waste management companies and NGOs has brought progress in the raw waste management area. The recycling facts for the period 2005-2007 speak for themselves: collection of plastic bottles from start up point of 341 tones in 2005 have increased to 1500 tones in 2006 and in 2007 is estimated to be 3000 tones, and generated exports from bailed and/or processed plastic bottles reached approximately $1.6 million in 2007. (Source: USAID Plastic Recycling Project)The potential of the new recycling activities exists, but is facing problems such as: insufficient financial support for vehicles, equipment operation and maintenance costs, difficulties in obtaining appropriate licenses and permits, resolving the issue on unfair competition resulting from illegal collectors, weak public awareness and marketing campaigns, as well as missing support from local authorities for organizing plastic waste collection schemes.
MAY 2008 Edition
New plastics recycling industry in Macedonia - Truth or Dare?
The production and use of plastics today is 20 times greater than that of 50 years ago and is expected to increase, driven by its potential for innovation and energy saving, positive contribution to climate protection. However, plastics usage has many disadvantages, like the non-degradable nature, whose disposal creates a solid waste problem. EU policy on Waste Management as implemented in the Framework Directive on waste as amended by Directive 91/156/EEC obliges member states to encourage the reduction of waste and its harmfulness. They also must encourage the recovery of waste and prohibit uncontrolled dumping. The revised Packaging Waste Directive EU directive sets targets for recycling and recovery min. 55% and min. 60 % respectively, with end year of achievement December, 2008.
Macedonia lags well behind with the lack of modern technology and managerial expertise on waste management practices, and is currently undergoing an intensive period of legislative development concerning this issue. What are the present conditions of the plastics recycling industry in Macedonia? Can the private sector involvement in the waste management reach greater efficiency than the public enterprises regarding waste recovery and recycling?
Waste created per inhabitant: 313 kg/inhabitant
Commercial waste: 154.543 t/year (27%of the community solid waste)
Household waste: 417.838 t/year (73% of the community solid waste)
Waste from packaging: 13% from household waste and 30% from commercial waste in total 97.305t/year (17% of the community solid waste)
Total plastic (PET) wastes from packaging (including landfill disposed): 10.748t
Recycled PET waste from packaging: 0.2t
Source: MoEPP, R. Macedonia (2004/05)
Challenging conditions
The capacity for recycling, reuse and recovery of plastic packaging is very limited, with rate of recycling only 0.01%. According to the newly adopted Waste Management Strategy of the Republic of Macedonia (2008-2020) the recovery of many types of potentially recyclable materials (metals, paper, plastics, car batteries and accumulators, waste oils etc.) is not financially viable under the prevailing conditions: lower waste volumes, lower waste fees, higher costs of operating on relatively smaller scale and limited local markets for recyclables that contribute for an increased costs of export for recyclables. These unfavorable conditions are an obstacle for preparation and implementation of the integrated and cost-effective waste management system, regarding waste management recovery and recycling.
In need of encouragement
Data show that mostly the informal sector and private companies deal with collection and recycling of plastics. The cost-effective studies give green light on the private sector for its involvement in the part of managing waste treatment, recovery and recycling. This sector has taken over the resources belonging to the recycling network of former Yugoslavia, and still is not used efficiently due to the costly collection system. However, the implementation of $1.2 million USAID sponsored Plastic Recycling Project in partnership with the municipalities of Karpos, Gostivar, Kocani and Strumica, as well as public and private waste management companies and NGOs has brought progress in the raw waste management area. The recycling facts for the period 2005-2007 speak for themselves: collection of plastic bottles from start up point of 341 tones in 2005 have increased to 1500 tones in 2006 and in 2007 is estimated to be 3000 tones, and generated exports from bailed and/or processed plastic bottles reached approximately $1.6 million in 2007. (Source: USAID Plastic Recycling Project)The potential of the new recycling activities exists, but is facing problems such as: insufficient financial support for vehicles, equipment operation and maintenance costs, difficulties in obtaining appropriate licenses and permits, resolving the issue on unfair competition resulting from illegal collectors, weak public awareness and marketing campaigns, as well as missing support from local authorities for organizing plastic waste collection schemes.
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