Mapping the Ecosystem for Entrepreneurship Support in Macedonia

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GLOBAL EXCHANGE AND TRAINING FOR YOUTH EMPLOYMENT SERVICES 2

National Report – N. Macedonia Project number: 618649-EPP-1-2020-1-MK-EPPKA2-CBY-ACPALA

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.

This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

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Preface

The main motivation behind this project is to foster the cooperation, exchange and upgrade of good practices between project countries with a final vision – new quality jobs through creation of entrepreneurship mindset and culture among economic actors in the societies.

This report will help us to see what entrepreneurial and employment ecosystems look like around the country. This report can be used to discover insights and learn more about the entrepreneurial ecosystem, as well as to find recommendations on how to strengthen and network the ecosystem in the country.

Author of this report is Mr. Blagoj Trajkov, Consultant to the Association of citizens CEFE Macedonia. The author conducted desktop research, in order to understand the current state of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in North Macedonia. The desktop research included: identifying and analyzing relevant projects or programmes that are helping people to get employed, open or improve their businesses, identification of the training programmes that are offered on the market, collecting data on entrepreneurship and employment ecosystem supporters and identification of beneficiaries from the projects, programmes and training. A contributor in preparation of the report is Jovan Stalevski, active player and contributor for development of Macedonian entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Please find the desk research attached here Date: December 25, 2020 Signature CEFE Macedonia: Jovan Stalevski, President

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1.

Report

The survey of the environment of the entrepreneurial and employment ecosystem in North Macedonia, as part of the GET YES2 project, lays the foundations in the country for further focusing on the expert and wider public knowledge regarding mapping the projects best practices and employment programmes and training. At the same time, this research provides a database on the key entrepreneurship and employment supporters.

1.1. Project best practices This research was made according several indicators , such as: high success rate for getting employment to people Innovative programme or methodology focus on niche target groups became self sustainable after donors money ended the impact that is made on creation of proactive and entrepreneurial children The results from the desk research identified that the are a lot of projects in North Macedonia, mostly on education and skills improvement, among which were identified several projects or programmes in North Macedonia that are providing entrepreneurial education for youth, social entrepreneurial education, training on employability skills and capacity building in the field of youth as well as programmes for reducing unemployment and fostering the business sector by providing education and financial support in the agriculture, tourism and ICT sector.

Mainly, they provide training and business skills education as well as financial support and co-funding opportunities for self employment and innovative proposals. The donor money mainly comes in the form of grants, and several national and international organizations such as UNDP, UNICEF, FITR, European commission, US and Swiss Embassy should be pointed out as active donors.

1.2 Training programmes on the market Regarding the training programmes that can be found on the market the results are showing that the supply on the market is growing alongside with the demand. The research was based on the following indicators: high success rate for employment

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percent of employed clients after the training According to the results, the highest demand on the market exists for ICT training, especially in the field of digital marketing, graphic design, programming and IT Development. Besides ICT training, there is also a high demand for business education, consulting and coaching , as well as training for project management, social skills and development of innovative social and business ideas. The main target is youth aged 18-35 years, but there can be found training for different ages, including kids and training for beginners to professionals, regardless the background. The price differs from the length and the demand on the trainings and varies between 500 to 1500 euros. Most of the training is carried out in 3 to 4 months.

1.3 Database of entrepreneurship and employment ecosystem supporters Based on the findings of the research, we can note that there is a fair number of organizations and institutions in North Macedonia that are supporting entrepreneurship and the business in general, and that there is a tendency for growth.

Most of them cooperate with each other, however there is no official database of all the organizations and institutions on a national level. There is a recent initiative from FITR (Fund for Innovation and technology development) to create a startup board, which will accelerate the cooperation and networking among different actors in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Our database consists of around 80 organizations and institutions.

1.4 Beneficiaries and good practices There is a general satisfaction from the project and programmes beneficiaries. Many of the participants acquired new skills and obtained new knowledge which help them further extend their businesses, make progress in their working environment or even make an overturn in their careers. The research showed that there are even programmes who help people with less opportunities to work on the ideas and to integrate into the society. However, the need and the demand for employment and obtaining new skills is rapidly increasing, especially in the times of pandemic.