Skopje, 16 May 2024 (MIA) - Newly formed “GoDigital” - Center for Digital Transformation signed a Memorandum of Cooperation Thursday with partners supporting its mission to assist the digital transformation of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The Center was established by the Board of Macedonia2025. It signed a Memorandum on Thursday with its partners from the Swiss Program for Increasing Market Employability – IME, the Clearing House - Clearing Interbank Systems AD Skopje (KIBS), and Visa South East Europe.

Nikica Mojsoska-Blazhevski, CEO of Macedonia2025 and GoDigital said digitization would facilitate progress in the development of businesses, reduction of corruption, improvement to the citizens’ quality of life.

“With our efforts and by joining our resources with those of our partners, we will together contribute to faster digitization, at least in one area of society – digitization of businesses. We must come together and create an ecosystem which currently doesn’t exist, and work together to assist the digital transformation,” Mojsoska-Blazhevski said.

Michael Chklamovski, head of Macedonia2025’s Board of Directors, said the initiative is a part of the exceptionally high standards they have set, and digitization is the challenge which they would like to help with.

“We set ourselves a challenge – what are the areas where we can provide our assistance, what’s one or two areas in which we can both have control and significant effects. One of the areas that we decided to set apart resources for is digitization. The idea was to establish ‘GoDigital’ because we can create something greater, to establish an ecosystem in the country, engage other stakeholders and partners to do something much better,” Chklamovski said.  

Swiss Ambassador Véronique Hulmann said they are supporting North Macedonia in the field of digitization, because it is directed towards the private sector, which, she said, “must believe in order to participate in the innovative development”. One of the key elements for that, Hulmann stressed, is the digitization of the private sector and artificial intelligence. She said that agribusiness and sustainable active tourism in the countries are areas that can be strengthened through digitization, and these, she said, “are huge opportunities for development”.

Goran Anastasovski, the Executive Director of Clearing House - Clearing Interbank Systems AD Skopje (KIBS), said participation in the initiative is very important for them since they are working in the field of educating SMEs.

“We hope that the public administration, with the new government now, will also have greater sense for digitization, and not just formally, but that something will truly be done,” Anastasovski said. 
Macedonia2025 board member Vasko Kronevski stressed that the digitization of the private sector represents a key intervention that could help with economic and sustainable development, as well as in the fight against corruption.

“We came up with a concept which we believe is sustainable. The goal of ‘GoDigital’ is to establish an organization that will look after the development of the entire ecosystem of sustianable development of the digitization of small and medium-sized enterprises. It is founded on very firm and very valuable principles, on ethics, professionalism and integrity, but it is also long-term and sustainable,” Kronevski said. 

Photo: MIA