Growth and development policies - Finance Think

Citizen oversight: Bridging the gap between policy promises and delivery in four development areas

financethink — Wed, 10 Jul 2024 14:37:51 +0000

The project is aimed at encouraging participatory and responsible democracy in the development sectors (education, health, social and economy) of North Macedonia, where the voice of citizens is heard, priorities are transparently set and political promises are constantly translated into tangible reality, ensuring a sustainable socio – economic progress and inclusive growth.

The general goal of the project is to promote deliberative democracy in reforms in key development areas (socio-economic, education and health) with a focus on youth and women, through the engagement of various stakeholders in the process of prioritizing reforms and encouraging political accountability through monitoring the fulfillment of political promises.

Specific objectives include:

To identify to what extent policy-defined priorities are in accordance with citizens’ priorities
To create evidence of gaps between political promises and needs, and gaps in the realization of political promises
To encourage political responsibility and strengthen citizens’ awareness, by monitoring the implementation of political promises using the Economic Compass as a digital tool

Donor: Civica Mobilitas

Finance Think is supported by Switzerland through Civica Mobilitas.

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Socioeconomic Assessment of Coal Communities in North Macedonia and Kosovo

financethink — Tue, 02 Apr 2024 19:38:35 +0000

The goal of the project is: 1) to assess the socioeconomic consequences (risks and opportunities) of transitioning out of coal for the communities directly and indirectly affected by the closure of mines and coal-fired power plants, and 2) to inform the design of local transition plans – that is, plans that addresses the distributional consequences of the mine/power plant phase-out while seizing the development opportunities for the affected communities.

Donor: The World Bank

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State aid and foreign direct investment in the Western Balkan countries: Fostering transparency and generating space for regional coordination of investment policies

financethink — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 22:16:18 +0000

The overall objective of the project is to improve transparency of and to generate evidence on the FDI-related state aid in the context of the regional integration of Western Balkan countries.

The overall objective is broken down to the following specific objectives:

To identify (map) state aid programs and key measures and relate it to measurable indicators of effectiveness,
To produce evidence on the state aid granted to foreign companies in view of its effectiveness and of support to the regional integration,
To increase public awareness at regional, national and local level by influencing public discourse on the importance of state aid transparency and alignment with the EU requirements, and as a promotor of regional integration

Donor: Open Society Foundations – Western Balkans

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Diagnostics of the informal economy in North Macedonia

financethink — Tue, 03 Oct 2023 15:39:33 +0000

The objective of the action is to diagnose the informal economy, re-estimate its size and the size/importance of its various facets, by relying on tax administration data. By so doing, the action will create a roadmap of actions and direction of resources that will produce the maximal result.

Donor: International Labor Organization

Duration: September – December 2023

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The perfect storm: Food and energy insecurities threaten the economies of the Western Balkan

financethink — Fri, 27 Jan 2023 17:56:35 +0000

The main goal of the project is to generate evidence and foster a policy dialogue for the food and energy insecurities in the Western Balkan economies pertinent to four key fronts: household livelihoods, firms’ competitiveness, fiscal space and the regional integration.

The specific objectives include:

To employ and empower the WEBecon network with respect to the national and regional policymaking processes on food- and energy-related policies, by generating evidence on the effects of the crisis on the WB economies and on the regional integration,
To enhance the policy dialogue and cooperation on energy and food supply security, by creating space for wide stakeholders’ consultations and networking at the regional level,
To increase the public awareness for the importance, consequences of and solutions to the food and energy crisis, including through regional approaches.

Donor: SMART Balkans Project

Duration: January 2023 – January 2025

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Action on the move: Monitoring, assessment and proposals for anti-crisis measures in conditions of a tight budget

financethink — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 17:51:18 +0000

The general goal of the action is to analyze and monitor budget spending for anti-crisis measures, at the national and local level, and to propose modification and/or new measures in conditions of an emphasized need for rationalization of public money spending.

The specific objectives include:

To analyze and monitor budget spending for existing anti-crisis measures, in three segments: 1) measures to protect the standard of citizens, at the national and local level, 2) measures to help companies, 3) measures in the area of agriculture and security food, and in the context of effective and efficient spending of public money;
To make proposals for the modification of existing and new measures, based on the need for their targeting and for the rationalization of budget spending in conditions of “expensive money”;
To raise public awareness of the need for fiscal consolidation and rational spending of public money in the face of multiple crises.

Donor: Civica Mobilitas

Duration: January – October 2023

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Knowledge, measures and policy dialogue for child protection from the food and energy crisis

financethink — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 03:38:56 +0000

The primary objective of the project is to generate evidence about the impact of the food and energy crisis on overall and child poverty, as well as food and energy poverty, which will be used as a background for designing a roadmap for policy measures at national level.

Donor: UNICEF

Duration: December 2023 – March 2024

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Scoping study to investigate the demand for green and social financing in North Macedonia

financethink — Thu, 30 Jun 2022 15:45:12 +0000

The objective of this study is to conduct the diagnosis – market analyses of high potential sectors in North Macedonia from a green and social stand point and to assess the market potential for new development credit lines.

Client: Agence Française de Développement

Partner: GFA Consulting Group

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Action for formalization of micro-performers of economic activity in the informal economy

financethink — Tue, 31 May 2022 18:38:10 +0000

The purpose of this action is to increase the formalization of micro-companies in North Macedonia, ie performers of economic activity in the informal economy. Hence, the action addresses legal informality. More specific objectives of the action include:

Understand the reasons for the informality of micro-operators in the informal economy (high fees, high administrative burden, low probability of being discovered, poor awareness of the benefits of formalization, etc.)
To understand the activity of informal micro-performers
To design a map / list of all fees, including parafiscal charges, related to starting a micro-business and running it in the early years
To propose: a) a plan for reduction of the costs for firming of micro-performers of activity, including rationalization of the duties identified in 3; and b) policy measures (fiscal, labor, information) that will encourage greater formalization of micro-operators.

Client: GIZ North Macedonia

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V4 support to promote WB6 Common Regional Market: one market for post-COVID recovery

financethink — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 11:23:57 +0000

The project focuses on sharing experiences, transferring knowledge and recommending further regional economic integration through development of the WB6 Common Regional Market using experiences from ex-CEFTA and V4 after integration into the EU single market.

Donor: International Visegrad Fund

Leader: Montenegrin Pan-European union

Duration: 1 October 2021 – 30 September 2022

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