Page 19 - Ekonomija i Biznis_noemvri 2015.indd

MEGA INTERVIEW

cessful. ManyMacedonians and friends
of Macedonia turned out to support us.
Companies supported us and we are
looking to build on where we started.

Macedonian society is heavily divid-
ed from a political point of view. In such
an environment, it is expected basically
from everyone to pick a side, there is
some sort of “you are with me or against
me”. How is “Macedonia 2025” dealing
with this challenge, to assist greatly the
country, but to remain politically inde-
pendent and to be perceived as unbiased
organization?

M.Zafirovski: We put out a press
release that was voiced by the media
where we say we are a non-partisan,
non-government, independent organi-
zation that is concerned with the well-
being of Macedonia. In the same state-
ment we underscore that we expect
transparency and democratic values be
upheld by political parties and that me-
dia and people should be able to report
and speak freely. The ‘with me or against
me’ view is unnecessary. Conventional
wisdom says things are never black or
white and people need to address the
situation on a case to case basis and
then arrive at a position. For example,
our organization cooperates with gov-
ernment agencies when it comes to
attracting investments because a po-
tential investment has to be ultimately
processed by the government. However,
in its broad nature and day to day work,
“Macedonia2025” is independent of any
political party influence.

What are the plans of “Macedonia
2025” for the future?

M.Zafirovski: We have reached a good
cruising altitude, but we are looking to
accelerate the actions and narratives
of economic development, connecting
people in the professional diaspora,
organizing educational activities, and
finding innovating new ways to make
an impact in the overall development of
the country.

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