Introducing possibility for public–private partnership in establishing and operating industrial – green zones, defining “green criteria” and specific business activities for the zones, and subsidies and other types of incentives to the founders and investors are among the key recommendations given in the recently prepared Study for Improving the Legislation on Industrial – Green Zones. Generating (or using) energy from renewable sources should be one of the leading industries, with building factories and running industry processes that will be energy efficient among the key criteria, the authors wrote.
Ministry of Economy, Economic Chamber of Macedonia and USAID-funded Clean Energy Investment Project (CEI Project) organized a presentation of the study which includes numerous findings and recommendations for improving the legislation. The participants came from selected municipalities and companies as potential founders and investors in the zones, all of them involved in the survey conducted for this purpose. Representatives of relevant public institutions and donor funded projects also attended the event. High-level representatives of the ministry and the chamber made introductory speeches, while the renewable energy sources specialist of the CEI Project delivered a detailed presentation, followed by an open discussion among the participants.
The presentation and subsequent discussion focused on the main results of the survey that was carried out from March through May this year, but findings related to national legislation and other countries’ legislation and practice (Serbia, Slovakia, Ireland, Denmark, etc.) regarding industrial – green zones (parks) were also touched upon. Findings and recommendations of this study will be the basis for the amendments to the upcoming Law on Industrial – Green zones and supporting by-laws, leading to enabling favourable environment for establishing these type of zones in Macedonia.
