For over 15 years, the Economic Chamber has been aiming its activities at greater assistance, support, and preparation of businesses for conquering other markets, entering into new partnerships, at building their competitiveness, with an eye to making exports the main driver of economic growth in the country in the coming period. We are all aware that the challenge to any economy is increasing the export potential and offering goods and services with value-added that have prices and quality competitive in the foreign markets amid a global competition.
Therefore, we are making great strides in meeting the objective through multiple project activities we are already working on. To increase the export capacity and competitiveness of exporting companies, we need support that will be sourced by intensifying regional business cooperation and facilitating trade barriers, aiming at using the opportunities of the Common Regional Market for our business community, and by internationalizing the business sector.
In the past nine months, from the start of the Private Sector Regional Integration Support Activity (PSRISA) the ECNM is implementing in partnership with USAID, projected to extend to June 2025, we held multiple events, direct meetings with companies from several planning regions in our country, we spoke about the benefits from PSRISA, about the opportunities it offers for closer cooperation among Western Balkan economies initially, and later with the European Union, but also with third markets, being a potential for increasing the export competitiveness of the region at large.
We are already working on delivering specific support to a number of export-oriented companies by providing technical and professional assistance in introducing international quality standards, developing and implementing new software and tools, developing project applications to access finance for carrying out investment projects, and developing export marketing strategies, aiming at building capacities for accessing new markets. In the coming period, we will be working on greater promotion of companies by organizing representation at renowned international fairs and expos, organizing buying missions by bringing targeted foreign buyers to the country, and other forms of trade promotion.
Through PSRISA, we have already operationalized the National Export Council (NEC), presided over by the Economic Chamber and the President Branko Azeski, a body that will ensure public-private dialogue and deal with any areas or issues relating to exports, a place to channel the challenges and obstacles companies face when engaging in exporting activities in the region and beyond. NEC will put forward specific measures to facilitate trade, eliminate trade barriers, and it will draft policies to increase the competitiveness of the export sector and use the opportunities that arise from regional initiatives and the EU integration process of Macedonia.
In summary, the activities we undertake in PSRISA aim at changing the current situation, improving the existing export structure, and stimulating the export diversification process by capacity building, qualifying new exporting companies, as well as by increasing the capacities of the existing export-oriented companies, with an eye to introducing production and export of new products with greater value-added and boosting export of existing export products, however, to new markets.
With the Private Sector Regional Integration Support Activity (PSRISA), USAID supports the Economic Chamber of North Macedonia in its efforts to secure greater integration of businesses into the regional and global value chains and increase their capacity to be competitive in the Western Balkans and beyond – in the EU. The idea is to create public-private dialogue tools, promote the benefits from regional economic integration to the business community, explore and promote export opportunities, and provide sustainable services to export-oriented companies.
