The eGov Project Assists the Cross-Border Trade Facilitation with New Online System - December 22, 2008

The eGov Project provided technical assistance to the Government of Macedonia and the Customs Administration to streamline the complex and complicated procedures for export/import licenses and quotas by introducing the Single Window for Export/Import Licenses and Quotas - EXIM. The system was implemented in close cooperation with sixteen government institutions and it included harmonization and simplification of the legal and administrative procedures, as well as transformation of the application and approval process from paper to electronic. The result is a powerful tool that will enable businesses to engage in cross-border transactions much faster and at a much lower cost than ever before.

"One of the key objectives of the US government in Macedonia is to stimulate economic growth. To do this, we work together to improve the conditions for doing business, to improve business competitiveness and to build linkages with foreign partners. Together with the government, we are focusing on legal reforms and streamlining the bureaucratic processes in order to ease burdens on companies and investors and to bring transparency to these processes. Information and communication technology is an excellent tool to achieve increased transparency and efficiency in provision of government services" said Philip Reeker US Ambassador to Macedonia at the lanching event held on December 22, 2008 at the Aleksandar Palace Hotel in Skopje.

Photo: (right) US Ambassador Philip Reeker and Director of Customs Administration Vanco Kargov (left)

The EXIM system will enable Macedonian companies involved in foreign trade to electronically apply and obtain import, export and transit licenses from sixteen government institutions involved in foreign trade regulation. The system is available at www.exim.gov.mk.
This application is part of the Trade Facilitation Single Window initiative implemented by the Government of Macedonia. The Project is coordinated by the Customs Administration (www.customs.gov.mk).

e-Procurement Promotion of Instruction Manuals - December 5, 2008

The eGov Project in cooperation with the Public Procurement Bureau and the USAID Business Environment Activity, organized a public event aimed at promoting the e-procurement system and the printed versions of the two e-Procurement Instruction Manuals - for contracting authorities and for economic operators. The event took place on December 5, 2008 and was attended by over 200 representatives from various public institutions - contracting authorities (CAs) and companies - economic operators.
During the event, the eGov Project promoted the test link for the e-Procurement that can be used by the CAs and the economic operators to test and learn the functionalities of the system. Around 100 test usernames and passwords were distributed to the participants.
In addition to the promotion event, the Public Procurement Bureau continued with the distribution of the Instruction Manuals to CAs and economic operators through direct mail. All 1,000 copies for CAs and 2,500 copies for economic operators will be distributed by the end of January 2009.

eGov Project Launched the New Online System for Registration of Employments - December 3, 2008

The eGov Project assisted the Employment Agency (EA) in developing and implementing an e-government application that allows companies in Macedonia to electronically register new employees or deregister departing employees, saving the companies time and money. This new on-line process will particularly benefit companies with frequent employee turnover, for example, companies that employ seasonal workers. The system was launched at a public event held on December 3, 2008 in Skopje and is available at https://www.avrm.gov.mk/PrijavaOdjava.

Photo: Philip T. Reeker, US Ambassador to Macedonia spoke at the launching event

Fighting Corruption Through e-Government , by David Perera - International Herald Tribune, Sunday, November 2, 2008

SKOPJE, Macedonia: A lucrative annual permit to haul freight across the border between this Balkan country and Greece used to cost Macedonian truckers as much as €2,500 in bribes per vehicle.
But that changed two years ago, when the Ministry of Transport and Communications adopted a computer system that electronically assigns licenses. Now truckers pay only about €100, or about $127, in application fees for a cross-border license. And the annual two-week period for license applications closed in October with no sign of the angry crowds of truckers who used to picket outside government offices here.
"We trust the system - we trust the computer," Blagoja Voinov, who owns a dozen 40-ton trucks, said through a translator.
Tiny and poor even by Balkan standards, Macedonia nonetheless has big ambitions when it comes to putting government processes online.
Jump-starting the country's electronic government, or e-government, has been a longstanding goal of the local U.S. Agency for International Development mission, which began a $4.9 million, five-year e-government development effort in 2004. The Macedonian government has added about $1.5 million in matching funds, according to project officials.
"This is a country very enamored with the potential of information and communications technology," said Marsha Wong, USAID economic development director in Macedonia. "By no means have we gone from A to Z in four years, but I do feel strongly that we've laid a solid foundation."
USAID has been in Macedonia since 1993, when United Nations recognized the country's secession from Yugoslavia. Since then it has tried to make Macedonia a "case study" in the development of e-government, Wong said.
USAID has since administered an e-government project in Albania and facilitated its introduction into local government in Croatia. In a region where corruption is rife, e-government can be a means for governments to improve their reputations, Wong said. "We didn't have to blow down too many doors," she added. "It's in our interest, your interest, to be competitive."
In Macedonia, a recently created Ministry of Information Society has pledged to spend $3 million on e-government programs next year. "It will change society," said Ivo Ivanovski, who appointed in July as the ministry's first head. "Whenever there is a human factor that has to decide something, there is a potential for corruption. So, eliminate the human factor."
One challenge has been limited access to communications technology. Only 29 percent of the Macedonian population can connect to the Internet from home, according to government statistics.
Biljana Muratovska, general secretary of Makamtrans, an organization representing transport companies, helped organize trucker protests that persuaded the government to investigate fraud. But she said she was at first skeptical of plans to computerize license applications.
Truck owners had little idea how to use fax machines, much less computers, she said. During the system's first year, truckers submitted paper forms for electronic processing. But since 2007, the entire process has been online.
Today she is an enthusiast. Makamtrans makes computers available to members and, given an incentive, they have learned to use them, she said.
The system fights fraud by cross-checking license applications against multiple databases housing trucking data, making it harder for any single agency to falsify information. The newfound transparency has given Macedonian truck owners confidence to update their fleets by hundreds of new vehicles per year, whereas before they bought just tens of new trucks annually, she added.
Not all e-government projects have been unqualified successes. A project for Macedonians to contact municipal elected officials and comment on proposed city projects online, for example, is not widely used.
"They can only be catalysts," said Gordana Toseva, director of the Macedonia office of Internews, an international nongovernmental organization hired by USAID as the e-government projects manager. "They cannot change the democratic capacity of the people just like that."
But projects that have succeeded have sometimes gone far beyond initial expectations, perhaps to most effect with a system for civil servant job applications.
Before the system came online in December 2005, applying for a state job was a slow and less-than-transparent process, with candidates at times being hired according to political affiliation.
On average, only seven people per job opening applied, said Aleksandar Ugrinoski, a state adviser in the civil service agency who set up the online system. Today, 43 people, on average, submit applications for every opening. Most applicants, 93 percent of them in 2007, use the online system. The potential for unqualified hires has been greatly reduced by a computerized candidate testing system. By law, ministries can hire only from a pool of the top five scorers.
Ugrinoski said he took advantage of 2005 legislative changes to the civil service law to institutionalize the USAID-financed system. Parts of the government resisted. "They lose their power," he said. "Of course, they try to tell us that the software is no good. But it was too late."
An engineer by training, Ugrinoski might have been more willing than others to search for a technological solution. And skeptics indeed told him it could not work in Macedonia, an argument he today banishes with his usage figures.
"History shows us that if a service is well designed and useful for citizens," he said, "they will find out a way to find out how to use technology."

Electronic Management of International Cargo Transport Licenses - Press Conference at the Ministry of Transport and Communications - August 11, 2008

The eGov Project and MoTC held a joint press conference to promote the upgraded version of the Electronic System for Management of International Cargo Transport Licenses: http://dozvoli-mtc.gov.mk. The system provides for an efficient and transparent process for distribution of licenses and monitoring of their use that completely eliminates paperwork.
As of August 15, 2008 the use of the system will be mandatory for all transporting companies and for all types of licenses.

Promotion of the Single Window Export/Import Licenses and Quotas - July 8, 2008

The eGov Project assists the Government of Macedonia in developing and implementing an electronic system for import-export licenses and quotas that will streamline the foreign trade procedures. The system is expected to enable Macedonian companies involved in foreign trade to apply and obtain import, export and transit licenses electronically from any of the sixteen issuing institutions. In addition to licenses and quotas, the system will provide electronic submission and processing of the transit customs declarations.
Functionalities of the system were presented to the business community at an event held on July 8, 2008 at the Parliamentary Club.
The development of this system is another example of the excellent cooperation between the eGov Project and the Government of Macedonia in implementing e-government solutions, which enhance the efficiency and transparency of the public institutions, improving the quality of government services and making Macedonia more attractive to the investment community.
"Import and export procedures are an important component for enabling the business environment. It is our expectation that this new system will improve efficiency and make Macedonia even more attractive to foreign investors," said Patricia Rader, USAID Mission Director.
The application was developed in close cooperation with the Customs Administration of the Republic of Macedonia. During the summer period, the system will undergo pilot testing; the full-range launch of the system is planned for fall 2008.

Municipality of Berovo Saves Taxpayers Money by Using e-Procurement - April 22, 2008s

The city of Berovo has successfully completed the public procurement procedure for construction works on the public square, thanks to the e-Procurement system developed by the eGov Project.
With the modern electronic system, the Municipality has not only efficiently completed the procurement, but also saved the taxpayers nearly 30% by getting a much lower price than predicted. Furthermore, while it normally takes weeks to go through the offers, with the help of the electronic system the entire process, including the evaluation of the bids, was completed in a matter of hours.
City administrative staff working on the tender were pleased, while Berovo Mayor Venko Pashaliski, said: "As a small municipality we are constantly looking for ways to save money. With this tender we gained new perspectives on how savings can be possible."
USAID and the eGov Project awarded the Municipality of Berovo with a Certificate of Appreciation for their commitment in breaking new grounds and pioneering the use of the electronic procurement system.

The award was handed to the Mayor of Berovo Venko Pashaliski and to Dejan Kalamadevski, member of the administration who accepted the challenge of using modern technology in every day operations.
Photo: The Certificates were presented by the eGov Chief of Party Gordana Toseva and the USAID EG Deputy-Director Peter Lampesis in presence of media and community members.

Eight Hundred People Trained to Use e-Procurement - April 10, 2008

On April 10, 2008, the eGov Project delivered the last presentation on the e-procurement system in Bitola. This event was attended by around 70 participants. In total, in this period January - April 2008, the project delivered training on the system to around 800 people from various categories - contracting authorities, economic operators and PPB employees.

eGov Project Change in Management - March 3, 2008

After three and a half years of leading the eGov Project as a Chief of Party, Mr. Jerker Torngren handed over this position to Mrs. Gordana Toseva who joined the Project in January 2008. Ms. Toseva holds is a lawyer with a master degree in international economics. For the last ten years, Ms. Toseva was holding senior positions on various USAID-funded programs.

Apply Online Selected as an ePractice.eu Editor's Choice - February 29, 2008

The case study of Online Job Applications for the Macedonian Administration - Apply Online has been selected as this week's ePractice.eu Editor's Choice.
The Editor's Choice is a label which distinguishes good practice cases that are particularly interesting to the ePractice.eu community due to the quality and extent of the information provided, the scope of the project, its innovation and relevance for the sector.

e-Procurement Promoted by the Macedonian Government - February 4, 2008

Today, one month after the entering into force the new Law on Public Procurements, the Government of Macedonia promoted the e-Procurement system encouraging the public institutions and the business community to take advantage of this tool that will allow them to make the public procurements more efficient and transparent.
The Minister of Information Society, Mr.Ivo Ivanovski joined by the Director of the Public Procurement Bureau, Ms.Mare Bogeva Micovska and the Director of the USAID Mission in Macedonia, Ms. Patricia Rader promoted the new electronic system for public procurements. At the press conference, Minister Ivanovski strongly recommended to the public institutions (contracting authorities) to use the e-Procurement system.
"The modern society is unthinkable without computers and ICT" said Minister Ivanovski. "It is the same with the electronic tool for conducting public procurement. Today, the system is still unknown to many but it will very soon demonstrate to everyone that public procurements must be conducted electronically. It will increase transparency and it will open up for more business opportunities for companies. Above all, thanks to its efficiency it will save tax-payers money by achieving lower prices for the commodities and services procured by the public institutions".
Supporting the need for a change, he added that the successful uptake of this e-government application, for both businesses and Governments, is not a technological issue. It demands changes in traditional ways of doing public procurement; it requires changes in our processes; it requires us to rethink the way we spend public money and how we respond to new processes.
USAID Mission Director Mrs.Patricia Rader shared with the press that USAID is especially proud of its efforts in the area of IT, and is helping to make this country a regional leader in using high-tech solutions. She also supported Minister Ivanovski's message that participation of public institutions and the business community has been critical in making this happen.
"I commend all of you for breaking new grounds and for your commitment to making Macedonia a country where doing business with the Government is easy, transparent and profitable" said Mission Director Rader in her final remarks.

e-Procurement Trainings - February 4, 2008

The Public Procurement Bureau in cooperation with USAID-funded eGov Project and World Learning are organizing a number of trainings for public institutions and economic operators.
The training for efficient public procurements is intended for persons responsible for implementation of public procurement procedures in their respective institutions. The training is financed by USAID and will be delivered by the consulting company Crown Agents. The goal is to provide the participants with knowledge and practical examples of how to prepare efficient tender documentations in order to reduce the risk of failure in procedures of awarding public procurement contracts and to attract as many bidders as possible, and at the same time to increase the usage of the already existent electronic system for public procurement.
The first one of this series titled as Training of Trainers has already taken place during January 23-27, 2008 in Ohrid where over 20 representatives of the public institutions, including representatives of the Public Procurements Bureau, were trained in skills and knowledge on the topic of public procurements under the supervision and mentoring of an international expert. This group of trained participants shall be invited to conduct the transfer of knowledge to the next groups.
The trainings for public institutions (contracting authorities) will continue with two days sessions in February on 11- 12 and 13-14, 2008. Promotion for the business community will take place on February 26 - 27, 2008 in Skopje and Veles, respectively.