Ahead of the 6th regional Summit100, which will gather more than 150 business and political leaders from Southeast Europe in Skopje from October 16 to 18, entrepreneurs from the region emphasize that to improve business of any kind, it is necessary to remove barriers for better transportation and other connections and to attract foreign investments to the region.
This message comes from the organizers ahead of the business-political meeting in an interview for Hina, which is also the media sponsor, where the chairman of the organizing committee, who is also the host, as well as the chairman of the Board of Directors and general director of the Macedonian pharmaceutical company Alkaloid, Živko Mukaetov, describes Summit100 as one of the most important gatherings for economic and other cooperation in the region.
There are many cross-border problems or ideas, so it is essential for politics to recognize and address the costly challenges facing the economy that contribute nothing, usually referring to various bureaucratic rules. This is one value of the Summit, and the other lies in the leaders themselves and the ideas about cooperation that arise on the spot,” says the president/director of the Slovenian Manager Association, Sonja Šmuc.
“As a member of several boards of important economic institutions in Macedonia and abroad, and as a general director who has been leading Alkaloid, which operates in more than 30 countries worldwide, for 11 years, I believe that connecting with business leaders and companies in the region is extremely important, and that Summit100 is indeed a strong platform for structuring development programs that would bring the region closer to the powerful business community,” Mukaetov stated ahead of the meeting.
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Evaluating that Summit100 has already positioned itself as a strong brand for regional cooperation, exchange of ideas, and concrete projects, he believes that this also contributes to better recognition of the region, especially since all its individual markets, from Slovenia to Albania, are very small, but with a total of over 24 million inhabitants, which is not negligible in economic terms.
Summit100 seeks faster flow of people and goods in the region
“The ‘dream’ of Summit100 is a faster flow of people and goods in the region, which we hope will become a reality in the near future, especially when you know that it takes about 12 hours to get from Skopje to Sarajevo, by land or by plane, and often you have to go, for example, via Istanbul. In recent years, we have really worked hard to encourage local authorities to invest efforts in harmonizing border procedures and the problems that people and companies face regarding more efficient mobility,” Mukaetov states.
Recalling the achievements of the previous five gatherings, he cites examples that since the first meeting in Serbia, under the slogan “Fenix,” a consortium has been formed in which more than 40 construction companies decided to jointly enter foreign markets, and that last year, at the meeting in Sarajevo, the EDISON project (Eco Driving Innovative Solutions and Networking) was highlighted, which has grown into an innovative platform for green mobility.
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“These are projects that are important and that we want in the region, as they represent a ‘quantum leap’ in the field of green mobility of the region on the European and world map,” Mukaetov assesses, adding that the conclusions of past gatherings have also been used as recommendations for the Berlin Process, while for the upcoming meeting in Skopje, he announces the signing of a memorandum of understanding and mutual cooperation between Summit100 and the WB6 Chamber Investment Forum (Western Balkans Chamber Investment Forum).
The region needs significant investments
Regarding all the conclusions of past gatherings, he states that they indicated that the region needs significant investments in infrastructure, transportation, energy, digitalization, branding of indigenous food and beverage products, improving labor mobility, adapting education according to labor market demand, and similar, so it will be similar in Skopje, with an emphasis on the key word “connecting.”
As before, business has not waited for politics, and we hope that good economic cooperation will give an impulse for better political cooperation in the region – Stanka Pejanović
“In line with ‘connecting,’ the special guest at Summit100 in Skopje will be the European Commissioner for Mobility and Transport, Violeta Bulc, and along with five creative workshops on energy, knowledge-based economy, branding of food and beverage origins, digital economy, infrastructure, and tourism, entrepreneurs will identify challenges to present to the heads of government of the region’s countries. We expect the meeting to contribute to further cooperation on regional projects, and we are open to everyone who has a vision and a desire to make positive changes for a better quality of life in the region,” Mukaetov stated.
The president of the Serbian Managers Association, Stanka Pejanović, also assesses that many positive shifts have been achieved at previous gatherings, companies have started to cooperate on joint projects and in appearances in third markets, and every year important topics for the growth of competitiveness of individual countries and the region are addressed at the meeting.
“As before, business has not waited for politics, and we hope that good economic cooperation will give an impulse for better political cooperation in the region,” emphasizes Pejanović, who also expects that the traditional conclusion of the meeting, the so-called presidential panel, which will again include several heads of government from the region this year, will be an opportunity to hear concrete proposals from business people.
The greatest potentials in connectivity in the region, innovations, and flexibility
Announcing that ways to accelerate cargo flow along the Southeast Europe route will be proposed at Summit100 in Skopje, especially for commercial and transport vehicles through the acceleration of customs procedures and controls, Pejanović also highlights the “Green Balkanika” project, as a desire of companies from the region for better connectivity and care for the environment.
Emphasizing that, given that all countries in the region are small, it is important for them to be innovative and connect, the president/director of the Slovenian Manager Association, Sonja Šmuc, believes that the purpose of regional connectivity is to facilitate the life and work of people, so for example, if there is an economic crisis in one country, people can more easily find jobs in another.
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“We need such flexibility, it would also be a great advantage in the Southeast European region, as it is complicated to live and work here. That is why we are less interesting to large investors, and competitiveness is low, so we have raised expectations through the maintenance of Summit100. There are many cross-border problems or ideas, so it is essential for politics to recognize and address the costly challenges facing the economy that contribute nothing, usually referring to various bureaucratic rules. This is one value of the Summit, and the other lies in the leaders themselves and the ideas about cooperation that arise on the spot,” says Šmuc.
Noting that she is personally involved in the project for freer cargo traffic, Šmuc states that “no one wants trucks to stand still but to drive,” presenting calculations in the EU that the cost of every minute a truck stands at the border is 2 euros.
“Our borders are plagued by long lines of trucks, and this, besides being expensive, affects the quality and availability of goods, increases CO2 emissions, raises the danger on the roads due to driver fatigue, etc. In Skopje, we will therefore again try to excite politicians to form an intergovernmental team that would start working on implementing this idea,” says Šmuc, adding that “everyone in the region wants a better life and it is worth the effort.”
