AmCham Macedonia Fall 2018 (Issue 59) | Page 3

Fall 2018 / Issue 59 Dear members, It has been an exciting few months at AmCham as we opened the Sensory Garden, held our General Assem- bly and elected the new Board, and we continue to offer events that attract a growing number of members. Meanwhile, AmCham is living up to its mission of be- ing the voice of the private sector in Macedonia. We took an active part in the public debate and consultation pro- cess on the progressive taxation on personal income, the Government’s budget proposal for 2019, and the growing lack of workforce that the private sector is facing. In this issue of the AmCham Macedonia Magazine we take a look at the mining sector, particularly at what it takes to bring the mining industry into the new era of in- novations, responsible working, and community engage- ment. Macedonia is rich in metals for which the global demand is constantly growing and we need to develop a mining industry that is responsible, regulated, and fo- cused on stakeholder engagement in order to increase the industry’s participation in the country’s GDP and contri- bution to the budget and to make the sector more appeal- ing for the employment and professional development of young people. The issue highlights some good examples and best practices of how the mining sector in Macedonia could look and operate, and I am glad that AmCham members are yet again leading the pack in adopting new technol- ogies, models for engagement with stakeholders, and ac- tivities and efforts to protect the environment. In other news, we launched the Sensory Garden that will facilitate the instruction of the students with dam- aged eyesight at the Dimitar Vlahov school. I would once again like to acknowledge and thank the AmCham mem- bers and other stakeholders who made the project pos- sible. We also held the most well-attended General Assem- bly in recent years. More than 120 members attended and 67 companies voted in the Board election. For those who missed the General Assembly, you can read about the event on page 24 and learn about the new Board mem- bers on page 26. Please also review the offers in AmCham’s Advantage Program, our member-to-member discount initiative, on page 32. We love it when our members do business to- gether and the Advantage program is a great tool to buy from or sell to other AmCham members at special prices. Use the program to your advantage. Last but not least, we have a number of events planned till the end of the year. Please make sure you receive Am- Cham’s weekly newsletter to stay informed about upcom- ing events and save the date for our New Year’s Party on December 13. Dijana Despodov Executive Director AmCham Magazine is a quarterly publication of AmCham Macedonia. No reproduction of any materials published in AmCham magazine is permitted without the explicit written permission of AmCham Macedonia. The articles in the magazine express the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of AmCham Macedonia, its members, board of directors or staff. While AmCham Macedonia makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all published information, AmCham Macedonia is not responsible for errors or omissions. The magazine is available on our web site: www.amcham.com.mk EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Dijana Despodov • EDITOR: Elena Chekorova • COVER: Sasa Mine, photo by: Dijana Despodov DESIGN: Zoran Inadeski • ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: [email protected] AmCham Macedonia Magazine 3