Third meeting of the Stakeholder Board for the project “Strengthening Regional and Local Centres for Attracting and Retaining Talent and Investments – MAGNET” was held

On October 28, 2026, the Development Center of the Eastern Planning Region held its third meeting with stakeholders involved in the project “Strengthening Regional and Local Centers for Attracting and Retaining Talent and Investments – MAGNET.”

The meeting was attended by representatives from identified stakeholders at the national, regional, and local levels—including the Agency for Innovation, Scientific-Technological Development, and Entrepreneurship; the Regional Office of the Economic Chamber of Macedonia; “Goce Delchev” University; and municipalities within the region—all of which are key institutions capable of contributing to the development of the Eastern Planning Region’s innovation ecosystem.

The meeting began with an update for the attendees regarding activities completed since the previous meeting of the Stakeholder Board, as well as an overview of upcoming project activities.

In line with the project’s objective of fostering the exchange of knowledge and experience among partners, a presentation was delivered showcasing “good practices”—proposed by the partner institutions themselves—categorized according to the project’s four sub-themes. The purpose of this presentation was to familiarize Board members with the operational approaches used by partners within their respective innovation ecosystems, thereby facilitating the timely selection of the most effective practices and the transfer of knowledge to relevant stakeholders in the Eastern Region. The second part of the meeting focused on presenting an analysis of the region, developed based on discussions held by Board members during their second meeting in April. Participants learned about the region’s competitive advantages—which should be leveraged to improve innovation and entrepreneurship—as well as its weaknesses, which will help in defining the strategic goals for the new Innovation Strategy. Other aspects relevant to improving the sector were also addressed. The MAGNET project is implemented with EU funding under the Interreg Europe Programme.