EU4EG’s legacy: development and innovation for North Macedonia

The creation of a more efficient entrepreneurial ecosystem, a network of business acceleration programs, and new support services for enterprises and startups. These are some of the objectives achieved by the EU4EG – “EU for Economic Growth”,project, started in 2021 to relaunch North Macedonia’s economy and strengthen its competitiveness in the context of the country’s accession to the EU. Area Science Park was among its partners. In particular, the organisation contributed to the capacity building of Macedonian companies by creating an online training platform and offering specialist support to companies and start-ups.

EU4EG officially concluded on November 26 in Skopje with an exhibition that brought together all the project’s partners, key institutions, and other stakeholders. Among the speakers was Luca Mercatelli of Area Science Park (Institutional Relations Office), who presented three successful cases of research-industry cooperation: a training grant model for companies located in the Science and Technology Park, the Deep Tech Revolution call to support innovative businesses, and support for participation in EU funding programs.

The protagonists of the exhibition were 24 startups and 25 micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises that benefited from funding provided by the project. They presented the results achieved over the past four years in terms of innovation, from the purchase of new machinery to the development of new production methods.

Coordinated by the German Federal Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), EU4EG involved Area Science Park, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate, and the Central European Initiative (CEI).

For more information, visit: EU4EG – EU for Economic Growth – Area Science Park.