Macedonian companies are socially responsible and the past 10 years there were positive examples, but more efforts should be done in this regard, deem experts debating the matter on Tuesday in Skopje.

Skopje is hosting an international conference bringing together representatives of nearly 20 countries to discuss ways to improve social responsibility and how the business sector in partnership with the public sector can contribute to sustainable development.

Social responsibility needs to be nourished because it forms an integral part in the creation of a positive image of the companies and the country, according to Deputy PM for economic affairs Vladimir Pesevski.

“Social corporate responsibility in Macedonia recently has been on the rise, however the National Council for Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness believes that the whole process requires a fresh impulse, because the citizens in Macedonia are known as people who take care of each other. It is something that is in us and that is part of our national awareness. There is social responsibility in companies, but we all need to work a bit more on the matter,” urged Deputy PM Pesevski.

Walid Nagi of the UN Global Compact called the cooperation between all Macedonian institutions ‘a good thing’.

“It’s a good thing that there’s cooperation between the private sector, the Government and all other institutions and today’s signing of a cooperation memorandum by the Global Compact Network Macedonia and the National Council for Entrepreneurship and is a confirmation for this,” Nagi said.