AmCham Macedonia Spring 2017 (Issue 53) | Page 20

Analysis Spring 2017 / Issue 53 New Public e-System for International Payments Starting in April 2017, Macedonia’s National Bank will provide an e-banking system for use by public institutions when conducting international payment operations. The system was built to increase the quality and efficiency of National Bank payment services, allowing faster flow of documents and information through e-delivery of payment orders abroad, electronic notification of inflows, as well as electronic submission of applications for cash withdrawals and refunds. Fees for using the new e-order process will also be lower than those currently charged for the old-fash- ioned paper process. Spring 2017 / Issue 53 Analysis Do Companies in Macedonia Think Long Term? Project Coordinator: Prof. Leonid Nakov, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Economic Researches of the Faculty of Econom- ics – Skopje, at Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje An international research proj- ect called “Joint Program for Sustainability Leadership - PoS- sibLe 1 ” recently conducted a survey of managers working in Macedonian and international companies, as well as public and local institutions, NGO’s and other policy makers for sustainable leadership, revealed the following: Based on the profound results of the empirical research conducted on Mace- donian managers and policy-makers for sustainable leadership development, are reached the following initial findings: 93% of respondents Do not have a specific organizational unit or manager within their organization, directly responsible for sustainable development. Weak Science, Math, Reading Performance Among Youth The average 15 year old in Macedonia performs well below her peer in OECD countries in science, math, and reading, according to the 2015 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey. The results show 52.2% of youth surveyed are “low achievers” in all 3 subjects and average performance in all areas appears to have declined since 2000. The PISA survey is conducted to help countries assess and improve their performance. In the following graphics, Macedonia’s average performance results are shown as “FYROM” and contrasted with those of OECD countries. Average performance (refers to all 15-year-old students in a country/economy regardless of the school type and grade attended): 58,9% feel that the main obstacle for increased sus- tainability leadership usage is the Lack of knowledge, skills, experiences and abilities for application of the concept. 2015 PISA Survey Results Macedonia vs. OECD Countries Science Reading FYROM MIN Mathematics FYROM OECD MAX Macedonia (384) vs. OECD (493) MINM OECD AX Macedonia (352) vs. OECD (493) FYROM MIN OECD MAX Macedonia (371) vs. OECD (490) Explore the full results at: compareyourcountry.org/pisa/country/mkd The huge importance of Quality education related to sustainable leadership is acknowledged by 78,3% of the respondents. New Member Highlights New Moment New Ideas Company Skopje is part of a regional network of 10 advertising agencies operating in 8 countries. New Moment is the first agency on the Macedonian market, established in 1993 offering total communication services. 20 AMCHAM MAGAZINE But what makes us different from the other agencies is the fact that we are the most awarded one, having won more than 100 awards at international festivals of creativity, among which a Titanium Lion at Cannes Lions Festival. Part of our advantages are strong insight into the local men- tality and market, international know-how and local creativity, application of marketing trends, strong focus on the market development and strategic influence on the development of the audience measurement. New Moment is offering wide array of services: strategic planning, creative work, media planning and buying, PR, dig- ital, production, event organization. 36 full time employees handle the communication activities of numerous international and local clients The added value that the pro- grams for hiring persons with special needs bring to the orga- nization/institution is recognized by 61% of the respondents. A joint project between the Faculty of Economics – Skopje at Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje; Institute for Research in Environ- ment, Civil Engineering and Energy – IECE, Skopje; Faculty of Economics at University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; Institute for Sustainability at University of Graz, Austria; Faculty of Economics at Kaunas University, Lithuania. AMCHAM MAGAZINE 21