In the latest edition of the Business Club podcast by the Economic Chamber of North Macedonia, guests of President Branko Azeski were Prof. Dr. Irena Kikerkova from the Faculty of Economics at UKIM Skopje and Prof. Dr. Darko Lazarov from the Faculty of Economics at UGD Shtip, who is also an advisor to the President of the Economic Chamber and President of the Chamber's Exporters' Club. They discussed the beginnings of their collaboration with the Chamber and their cooperation with President Azeski, who involved them in the Chamber's activities, utilizing their methodological and scientific expertise on economic conditions to support businesses and export activities.

"What impressed me about you personally and the Chamber is the openness to collaboration and the practical approach, which is often lacking in academia and remains absent even today due to its specific nature. However, you and the Chamber have opened the doors and demonstrated that such collaboration can be functional, real, and yield practical results," noted Prof. Lazarov.

The podcast guests reflected on the Chamber's activities in which they have participated. Prof. Dr. Lazarov spoke about the Ohrid Conference, which brought together representatives from business, academia, universities, the Chamber, and the Government to discuss the creation of a strategy for the country's economic development. He emphasized that at the conference, which aimed to bring together stakeholders from academia, business, the Chamber, and the Government to shape better economic policies, he and Chamber President Azeski were the only ones to co-author a paper, proving that academia and business can collaborate effectively to align their perspectives in shaping economic policies.

Regarding the Conference at the Faculty of Economics at UKIM Skopje, organized by the Chamber and the Ministry of Education and Science, Prof. Kikerkova highlighted a statement by President Branko Azeski, who emphasized that in the next ten years, the central role will be the connection between education and business, with the Chamber's true function being to facilitate this connection—something that has already become a reality today.

Prof. Kikerkova also discussed the establishment of the European Information Center within the Faculty and the Regional Training Center of the World Customs Organization, created in cooperation with the Customs Administration of the Republic of Macedonia and the World Customs Organization.

As a professor specializing in foreign trade, Kikerkova pointed out two key issues hindering the swift crossing of borders:

1.     The digitalization of customs procedures, in which Macedonia is ahead of Western Balkan countries. This creates a challenge, as the lack of compatible platforms in the region means that customs documents must be issued in both electronic and paper form, increasing border wait times by at least two hours.

2.     The lack of recognition for the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) status, not just in Macedonia but also in Europe, due to the absence of international recognition for national AEO statuses. The AEO status guarantees the legitimacy of cargo documentation, which would allow trucks to pass through the green lane at border crossings without document and cargo inspections, significantly speeding up trade.

"Macedonia is a leader among Balkan countries, and part of the challenges in customs cooperation stem from the fact that the level of customs digitalization in Macedonia is higher than in other Western Balkan countries. This creates a problem in connecting with them because our platforms have nothing to integrate with. As a result, our foreign trade operators must prepare documents in both electronic and paper formats, which slows down border processing by up to two hours," emphasized Prof. Kikerkova.

Continuing the podcast, Prof. Dr. Darko Lazarov spoke about Macedonia’s export activities. He pointed out that, based on a study conducted within the Chamber, Macedonia has a shallow export structure, meaning that a small number of companies, with a limited range of products and export markets, define the country's export economy.

According to the study, the top 25 export products account for 70% of total exports, the top 25 export companies make up 90% of total exports, only 400 companies export goods worth over €1,000,000, and only 1,300 companies export goods valued at over €100,000.

"The products being exported mostly have low added value (such as textiles and basic metals). Meanwhile, products with a high level of complexity, exported by foreign companies operating in Macedonia, derive their added value from production processes conducted outside Macedonia. As a result, the added value of our exports is very low, while the import component remains relatively high. This means that our focus should not simply be on increasing exports but on increasing the added value of exported products," stressed Prof. Lazarov.