An EBRD-funded study on encouraging female entrepreneurship in North Macedonia, entitled “Roadmap for a Gender-Responsive Investment Climate”, was launched in Skopje today.

The launch event was opened by the Minister of Economy for North Macedonia, Kreshnik Bekteshi. Participants included the EBRD, the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia, policymakers, business representatives and civil society.

The Roadmap, developed by Marija Risteska under the umbrella of the Western Balkans Women in Business (WiB) programme, will inform policymakers and other stakeholders of ways to increase female entrepreneurship. In particular, it recommends:

mainstreaming gender in investment policy – investment policies need to include gender objectives and criteria, and direct support to sectors where women-led and women-owned companies operate
developing support services for companies owned and led by women – this includes start-up services like incubators and accelerators that integrate a gender perspective into their operations or provide specific services for women-led and women-owned businesses
improving access to finance and markets for women-led and women-owned companies – this could include measures such as digitalisation, gendered taxation, including gender criteria in subsidies, grant and loan schemes, as well as opening a window for women-led or owned companies in the country’s new Guarantee Fund, which supports finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and traders.