The idea behind the Dashboard was born at one of Macedonia2025 annual Board meetings when thinking about our purpose and mission, a simple question was raised – ‘What do we mean by a ‘stronger’ nation?’ And can we prepare a related strategic plan?’ That is why, complementary to our programs, partnerships and initiatives, we led the effort for establishing the Dashboard, with the aim of monitoring the progress towards a ‘stronger nation’, and consequently positively influencing the government and other stakeholders through peer countries’ experiences and best practices. Our efforts were also professionally supported by McKinsey & Company, which provided a synthesis of country dashboard best practices and peer country dashboard examples.

The Dashboard provides a relatively simple, but an informative view on the economic conditions and the progress made over time in terms of the predetermined targets, which are divided into two comparative groups; ⅰ) in comparison with the targets set for the indicators comprising the Dashboard, and ⅱ) in relation to the progress made vis-à-vis the countries that make up the peer group chosen for comparison. The Country Dashboard is made up of fifteen measures/indicators. Six of those track the economic growth, while the remaining nine mimic and measure the most important (in our view) drivers for growth –’Growth Enablers’.

After 5 years of using the Dashboard, in 2020 we conducted a process of revision, with an aim to make it even more relevant and in line with the recent developments and the anticipated future of the country (mainly the EU accession). The revision consisted of two main processes: i) careful revision of the most meaningful economic and growth indicators while still aiming at as shortest possible list of indicators and keeping the simplicity, and ii) rethinking which are the ‘true’ peer countries. The process was conducted by the Growth Committee of Macedonia2025, which involves top-notch domestic and foreign experts. Slight changes were made in the indicators as to reflect changing economic and social environment and key areas of focus and in need of improvement. Regarding the peer countries, a list of 19 peer ranking countries was developed, which are used as an anchor to assess the country’s progress. They are divided in two subgroups. The first group, the so-called ‘Aspirational Peers’, are the ‘New EU Member States’: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia. The second group of countries is the so-called ‘Structural Peers’, i.e. the Western Balkan countries comprised of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia.

The Country Dashboard is fully aligned with our mission and strategic objectives. Our vision is to assist the creation of a prosperous economic climate and a ‘stronger nation’ that will improve opportunities for citizens, domestic companies and foreign investors. We seek to shape Macedonia’s future by promoting sustainable economic growth that will improve opportunities for citizens, companies, and foreign investors.

With that thought in mind, we have started an initiative to develop a more interactive and an in-depth approach for exploring the renewed Dashboard, alongside an additional explanation and in-depth metrics for each constituent part of the interactive platform. Stay tuned!