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Videos of the Panel Discussions at the Macedonia Economic Summit
- OPENING ADDRESS
– Zoran Martinovski, Summit Chair, World Bank’s IFC Country Manager for Macedonia and
Montenegro, Macedonia2025 Board Member
– Mike Zafirovski, Founder/President of the Zaf Group and Co-founder/Chair of Strategy Committee of
Macedonia2025
Summary of the opening address:
– The legacy of John Bitove Sr., on his love and dedication to the Macedonian cause and what can we all learn from his selflessness
– On the spirit of selflessness. The energy that Board Members put into MK2025 for the good of the Country and not expecting anything in return
– Emphasis on terminology of “think and do” tank (not just “think” alone), talking about education programs and other successes of MK2025
– Overview of the Country Dashboard and how this will help define what we is meant by the credo “Building a stronger nation”
– Ambition for success as measured by the dashboard – being in top half in the next 10 years
- ECONOMIC CHALLENGES IN SOUTHEAST EUROPE
– Zoran Martinovski, Summit Chair, World Bank’s IFC Country Manager for Macedonia and
Montenegro, Macedonia2025 Board Member
– Nika Gilauri, Former Prime Minister of Georgia, head of Bank of Georgia Turkey’s office and a
senior advisor for McKinsey & Company
– Mike Zafirovski, Founder/President of the Zaf Group and Co-founder/Chair of Strategy Committee of
Macedonia2025
– Gazmend Kadriu, CEO at Union Bank, Albania
– Branko Bogunovič, Partner at Horwath Consulting, Croatia
– Branka Pavlovič, President of the Board of Directors, Ohridska Banka AD Skopje, Member of
Société Générale Group, Macedonia
Panel Summary:
– Reflection on economic growth and challenges in South-East Europe: Demographic shrinkage and umeployment
– Nika Gilauri shares insights from his experience in leading Georgia’s transformation
– List of main drivers and best practices that contributed to substantial change in Georgia
– Insights from the Banking sector; education of workforce, innovation, business sophistication
– Expectations in tourism development in Croatia and lessons for Macedonia and the SEE region
– Behavior of European and domestic banks in the SEE region and forecast for the next year
- A CONVERSATION ON: TRANSFORMING THE CULTURE IN SEE
– Zoran Martinovski, Summit Chair, World Bank’s IFC Country Manager for Macedonia and
Montenegro, Macedonia2025 Board Member
– Ichak Adizes, Founder, Adizes Institute USA (Video Address)
– Jim Dunn, Project Director, The Pacific Institute, UK
- REACHING PROSPERITY THROUGH TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
– John I. Bitove (Jr), Founder of Obelysk Inc, Canada and Macedonia2025 Co-founder/Chair of
Communications Committee, Canada
– Dr. Vlaho Kostov, Panasonic, Executive Engineer, Head of CEE and Mediterranean, Germany
– Philip Nordfeldt, Founder & CEO at Data Talks, Sweden
– Marta Naumovska Grnarova, CEO at Zavar Company, Macedonia
– Gordana Gavrilović, Sales Director SE, RedKnee, Serbia
– Petar Spaseski, Global SAMS Toolkit Manager at Hatch, Australia
– Emil Matevski, Partner at Detecon, Germany
Panel Summary:
– Big Data technology makes things a lot easier for lots of sectors.
– Strong companies and state institutions need to invest in research and implementation of Big Data.
– The customer of today wants to pay for a journey, not just a product or service.
– Companies need to get closer to the individual customer.
– Innovation is also about sustainability. Companies have responsibility in front of communities.
– Next step for Macedonian companies is to become sustainable by introducing smart design.
– ICT is no longer an enabler of business – it is a business itself.
- ENTREPRENEURS WHO BUILD FROM ZERO TO FORTUNES
– John I. Bitove (Jr), Founder of Obelysk Inc, Canada and Macedonia2025 Co-founder/Chair of
Communications Committee, Canada
– Chris Pavlovski, Founder of Rumble and Macedonia2025 Board Member, Canada
– Scott Delong, Founder of Viral Nova, USA
– Brian Warner, Founder of CelebrityNetWorth.com, USA
– Jason Burfield, CTO of LittleThings, USA
Panel Summary:
– It is very possible to start an online business with $50 US and develop that into a source of good income.
– Put together skills and idea to develop something that doesn’t exist.
– Having a small team allows companies to subcontract services with other companies in order to focus on crucial objectives.
– There are companies that are working on something big, something that we are not going to believe is real.
– The IT sector in Macedonia offers creative, on the spot thinking and problem solving.
– The time difference between North America and Macedonia allows ICT companies to have an effective 24 hour work cycle.
- EMERGING COMPETITIVE SECTORS IN MACEDONIA
– Tilman Tacke, Associate Principal, McKinsey, Germany
– Vera Stavroff, President & CEO of HerbalScience and AlkaloidUSA, and co- founder of GreenBeauty, USA
– Ognen Cubalevski, Plant Manager at ODW Elektrik, Macedonia
– George Stamkoski, Film producer, UK
– Philippe Mugnier, CEO at ATTRACT PR, France
– John Jonovski, Founder and Managing Partner, Phalanx Capital, UK
– Borche Ilioski, Assistant Vice President Corporate Development and Investor Relations, Euromax Resources
Panel Summary:
– Competitiveness is very important for Macedonia because most of the demand is located outside the country.
– Organic production is the next competitive sector of Macedonia. Everything is in place for growth to happen.
– Follow the Nation Brand hexagon to develop a strong tourism sector in Macedonia.
– An increasing number of tourist operators today are aware about Macedonia.
– Tourism is a sector that quickly recovers following a crisis.
– Infestment in the film industry in Macedonia is considerable indirect investment in supporting industry: travel, hospitality, food and beverage, construction, fashion and so on.
– Leadership is about bringing the best out of people and making things better for everyone.
– Leaders show the way, teach from experience.
– Leaders start leading ASAP! Those who lead start leading long before they have followers.
– We need more values-based leaders in the world.
– Macedonia has great leaders in the Diaspora that need to come more often and transfer their knowledge to an increasingly eager audience.
- BUILDING TRASNFORMATIVE SECTORS IN SEE
– Sonja Šmuc, Managing Director, Managers’ Association of Slovenia, Slovenia
– Lou Naumovski, Vice President and General Director, Moscow Representative Office, Kinross Gold
Corporation, Russia
– Mario Seric, Managing Director, MarCon, Croatia
– Dr. Jasmina Knezevic, Founder and CEO, Bel Medic Hospital, Serbia
– Igor Popovski, Regional Manager, GE Lighting & Macedonia2025 Board Member
– Andrew Brown, Delivery Unit Manager, Endava, United Kingdom
Pannel Summary:
– Companies in SEE need to build competence and credibility
– Dedicate effort and attention to setting up the starting points for international cooperation.
– Experience accelerates growth and impact – tap diaspora to ‘seed’ companies with experienced overseas talent.
– Increased competition spurs innovation and improvement – necessary for having dynamic sectors.
Full Video (Please note, we are working with our media partner to resolve the quality issues of this video)
- Leadership Talks – Young Professionals as Drivers of Sustainable Growth
– Harry Kraemer – Professor on leadership and management, Kellogg School of Management and Former CEO of Baxter, USA
– Mike Zafirovski – Founder/President of the Zaf Group and Macedonia2025 Co-Founder and Board Member/ Chair of Strategy Committee