On 18.03.2015, at Hotel “Izgrev” – Stip, was held the first informative event with the private sector of East Planning Region within the project “Establishment of Business Center for Support and Consulting Services for small and medium enterprises in East Planning Region”.

The organization of this type of events is an important step in support of the private sector, ie small and medium enterprises, traders / economic operators in the region, craftsmen, interested potential foreign and domestic investors and others.

The main goal of the event within the project is to increase the competitiveness of the planning regions by supporting SMEs and entrepreneurship, which is also noted as a strategic priority in the development of the East Planning Region.

The event was attended by representatives from SMEs, entrepreneurs, associations and foundations, unemployed, artisans, merchants, members of clusters and networks and potential foreign and domestic investors.

The project is implemented with technical and financial support of the Ministry of Local Government and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The event with a greeting message was opened by Mrs. Dragica Zdraveva, Director of the Centre for Development of East Planning Region.

Moderator of the event was Mrs. Milena Ristova – Mihajlovska from Municipality of Stip.
The first speaker at the event was Mrs. Andriana Bogdanovska, Director of the company Knowledge Center. Mrs. Bogdanovska talked about entrepreneurship and framework for support of the entrepreneurship in Republic of Macedonia. In her presentation she covered the benefits and importance of entrepreneurship, the types of entrepreneurs and presented detailed framework for support of the entrepreneurship in the Republic of Macedonia.

Guest speakers at the first informative event were Mrs. Menka Gugulevska, Head of Department for active policies and measures for support self-employment and employment in the Employment Agency of the Republic of Macedonia, Mr. Marijan Stojchev, Head of Department at the Agency for support the entrepreneurship in the Republic of Macedonia (APPRM).

Mr. Marijan Stojchev from APPRM, in his presentation informed about the active measures and programs for support the entrepreneurship in the Republic of Macedonia.

Mr. Stojchev briefly presented all program APPRMs activities for 2015, including the voucher system of counseling, info-panel project in cooperation with regional centers, entrepreneurship education, organizing of business plan competitions, cofinancing of European SME Week, organizing mentoring between experienced entrepreneurs and start-up companies, the training of local consultants, etc.

He presented the results of the self-employment programs for SMEs in the period from 2005 to 2014. Mr. Stojchev presented APPRMs role in these programs, specifically expressed in the counseling, or the making of sustainable business plans.

Ms. Menka Gugulevska, Head of Department for active policies and measures for supporting self-employment and employment in AVRM presented employment services offered by AVRM, the Programme for self-emplyment, the Programme for self-employment for youth up to 29 years, the Programme for subsidizing job positions, training, internships, and all benefits offered by AVRM employers.

On the first informative event was presented “The Programme for development of the East Planning Region 2015-2019 year”, by Mrs. Zujica Angelova, a representative from the Center for development of the East Planning Region. She presented the phases of the Programme, the Programme for development by presenting the priorities, objectives and indicators.

After all the speeches, and after the pause for a cocktail and lunch, meetings were held between all stakeholders from the private sector and representatives of government institutions (B2G meetings) or AVRM and APPRM.