Organized by the Western Balkans 6 Chamber Investment Forum (WB6 CIF) with the support of the European Commission and in collaboration with Eurochambres, the EU-WB6 Chambers Academy dubbed "Development of Services Supporting Integration of Local SMEs into the EU Single Market" was held in Thessaloniki on 29-30 May 2024. The third academy organized by the Chamber Investment Forum focused on the EU accession prospects and topics of interest for regional cooperation. These topics were elaborated during the two-day academy and presented by 16 speakers from the countries in the region and the EU, aiming to share best practices among chambers and to network among colleagues to strengthen the role of chambers as vital supporters of local businesses.

In her opening remarks, Dr. Tatjana Shterjova Dushkovska, WB6 CIF Secretary General, emphasized that the Academy provides an excellent opportunity for the exchange of information and the presentation of new activities by each of the Western Balkan chambers, as well as at the EU level. This essentially ensures continuous monitoring of the activities undertaken by each chamber as to the creation of services to support the integration of our local companies into EU supply chains. Dr. Shterjova Dushkovska added that such an exchange of experiences creates opportunities for the development of new services and the improvement of existing services offered by the chambers in the region.
Juliette Loppé, Senior Policy Advisor for Neighborhood and Enlargement, highlighted in her address that Eurochambres highly values the cooperation and exchange of knowledge between EU chambers and the chambers of the WB6 region. This cooperation aims to gradually integrate the region's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) into the EU single market and implement the New Growth Plan.

At the Academy, speakers from the chambers of commerce of the EU and the Western Balkans shared and discussed their best practices in several key and current areas such as the circular economy, the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) standards, e-services and digital transformation, intellectual property, and standardization.

As a representative of the Economic Chamber of North Macedonia, Mihajlo Donev, M.Sc., project manager, spoke about Digital Transformation through the introduction of e-services, presenting the e-services offered by the Economic Chamber. Participants at the Academy had the opportunity to learn about the application of digital transformation in improving the services provided by the Chamber in response to the needs of the private sector. Donev presented the Practice Portal, designed to connect companies with vocational schools for the implementation of practical training. This modern solution facilitates the process of submitting requests for employer verification, mentor certification, and maintaining registers of verified companies, certified mentors, and vocational schools, aiming to network and ease communication among the involved parties. A particular focus was given to the innovative solutions for issuing electronic documents (digitally signed Certificates of Origin, Form A, and Membership Certificates), as well as issuing eATA-Carnets. The Economic Chamber of North Macedonia has become the first chamber in the Western Balkans region to develop its own software solution for connecting with the system of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) based in Paris, making it one of the twelve pioneering chambers in Europe that has advanced the ATA-Carnet issuance system. Additionally, he presented the digital self-assessment tool DIG-IN-KPI AAT, developed under a project activity carried out by the chambers of Slovenia, Croatia, and North Macedonia. This tool is designed to automate the process of assessing the level of digital maturity of construction companies, encouraging them to digitalize their processes to increase productivity and build competitiveness.

The EU-WB6 Chambers Academy "Development of Services Supporting Integration of Local SMEs into the EU Single Market" was organized under the project "EU Support for WB6 CIF for the Development of a Common Regional Market, 2024/454-229." As a culmination of the two-day academy, an e-catalog was produced, containing information about the speakers and thematic presentations from the academy.

Link to E-catalogue