Our Mission

The Business Environment Activity (BEA) is a five-year project with an overall objective to improve the effectiveness of Macedonian legal and institutional environment for investing and doing business. The project is funded by the US Agency for International Development, and implemented by Booz Allen Hamilton. BEA’s ultimate goal is to encourage business formation and growth, and address the issue of high unemployment. BEA is providing a balanced program for strengthening the institutional and legal basis for enabling stable development of both public and private sector.

BEA’s activities are split into 5 areas, as follows:

Public-private dialogue and facilitation of trade in goods and services

We support the effective interaction between the government and the private sector in creating a sound policy framework and effective support measures for the enterprise development. We assist the public-private dialogue and promote creation of economic policies that will impact private-sector strategies in a manner that they become strong competitive forces.
We promote understanding and implementation of policies for solving cross-border issues in the area of trade with goods and services.

Legal and regulatory framework

We initiate and support improvements of country’s legislation related to doing business. We are vigorous in bearing activities that increase awareness and knowledge in the stage of implementation of laws and related regulations. We facilitate programs connected with introduction of good corporate governance, transparent public procurement, efficient bankruptcy procedures, corporate social responsibility, capital market development etc.

Public capital investment and decentralization

Service conditions at the municipal level in Macedonia are mostly poor because of the inherited consequences of the years-long systemic constraints on local governments. We assisted the decentralization reform in Macedonia by helping municipalities to understand and assess their economic standing, and by more effective use of their budget potentials.
Through an extensive assistance program, we support the development of new financial sector products, improvement of public sector products and services, and increase of financial reporting transparency.

Restructuring of the labor market and pension reform

Being the biggest concern and most sensitive challenge for Macedonia, the issue of unemployment is an important part of our program. Our activities are aimed at activating social dialogue on all levels and facilitating the shift from passive to active measures of the labor policy. We support better re-allocation of labor in the country and improvement of the entire social environment. We assist the final stage of the pension reform by supporting the introduction of the voluntary pension system.

Capacity building and cross-cutting initiatives

We promote effective capacity building of three groups of organizations/institutions: Regulatory agencies, in order their capabilities for implementing legislation to be strengthened; Think-tanks, in order their services in the area of economic analysis to be recognized by the Government of Macedonia; Business associations, in order their initiatives for solving obstacles for growth to be well prepared and elaborated.