Summer 2018 / Issue 58
Summer 2018 / Issue 58
Dear members,
In the six months since I joined AmCham Macedonia
my favorite part of the job has been visiting members and
learning more about your operations, priorities and chal-
lenges. One consistent challenge that everybody seems to
share, from big production facilities to small service com-
panies, is the lack of qualified staff.
In order to address this challenge, we recently identi-
fied Education, Innovation, and Employability as one of
AmCham’s three priorities. To that end, we are developing
programs and building partnerships in order to support
the development of a qualified workforce, encourage en-
trepreneurship, and foster innovation.
In these pages you will read what some of our members
and partner organizations are already doing in order to
increase employability. The German Chamber is imple-
menting a dual vocational education program based on
the German model; UNICEF and the Fund for Innovation
are inspiring young people to become innovative agents
of change; Junior Achievement are instilling an entrepre-
neurial mindset in high-school student; and YMCA Bitola
is encouraging their campers to consider what it takes to
succeed in the private sector and take action in that direc-
tion, while our members Meloski Consulting and Univer-
sity American College Skopje explain that education does
not end with graduation.
AmCham has already started developing programs in
the direction of improving education, encouraging en-
trepreneurship and increasing employability. One of
these programs was the Executive Leadership Talk with
UNICEF representative Benjamin Perks, who spoke about
the private sector’s role in encouraging entrepreneurial
thinking and developing skills among students from the
youngest age. You can read about the event on page (28).
This initiative will continue with a working meeting to
discuss specific programs and ways to get involved.
In other news, following the announcement about the
possible introduction of progressive taxation of person-
al income, AmCham and representatives of MASIT and
Macedonia2025 met with Minister of Finance Tevdovski
and presented the position and opinions of the private
sector regarding the effects progressive taxation would
have on the economy. You can read a summary of our po-
sition on page (26).
Other events we highlight in this edition are the meet-
ing with the Directorate for the Protection of Personal
Data to discuss the General Data Protection Regulation
and Macedonia’s path to regulatory compliance, as well
as the second Young Professionals Networking evening
which again gathered a sizeable crowd. Read about Am-
Cham’s past events on pages (25-31).
Finally, I want to remind you that our General Assembly
and Board Election are coming up in early October. We
will soon send the Call for Nominations for new Board
members so if you ever had an inclination to participate
in providing direction for the Chamber keep an eye out
for the Call and send us your application. Remember that
it is your engagement as members that make AmCham
dynamic, relevant, and effective.
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: Trajce Ilievski/APTIV
DESIGN: Zoran Inadeski • ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: [email protected]
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AmCham Macedonia Magazine
AmCham Macedonia Magazine
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