Skopje, 21 December 2024 

In the National Bank, the Research Club held its 53rd session and presented the research papers Hierarchical Economic Analysis of International Trade in Services by the authors Filip Naskovski, Martin Bojkovski, Dimitar Peshevski and Dimitar Trajanov and Data Envelopment Analysis - DEA by the authors Vesna Garvanlieva Andonova and Borche Trenovski.

The session was opened by the Manager of the Monetary Policy and Research Department Biljana Davidovska-Stojanova, who emphasized that the benefits of the paper of the authors Filip Naskovski, Martin Bojkovski, Dimitar Peshevski and Dimitar Trajanov are significant, due to the fact that this paper places emphasis on the role of trade in services as an important factor for economic growth and structural transformation, primarily for the smaller economies, a process that was strengthened by the development of digitalization and IT technologies. The paper by the authors Vesna Garvanlieva Andonova and Borche Trenovski is important given that the improvement of the public sector efficiency may improve the fiscal room and have positive impact on the economic growth in the Southeastern Europe countries.

In the paper Hierarchical Economic Analysis of International Trade in Services, the authors examine the dynamics of global trade in services, including 137 countries for the purpose of detecting the connection, the flows of trade in services, as well as the competitive advantages of the individual countries, including our economy, within the global and regional trade ecosystems. The analysis shows that construction, other transportation services and computer services are the sectors that registered competitive advantage of the Macedonian economy. Moreover, computer and IT services registered fast growth, especially in the period from 2012 to 2022 and are one of the most promising sectors that should be used for faster economic growth, and the possibilities for regional cooperation and good policy conduct contribute to improving and strengthening the other less competitive sectors in the economy.

The paper Data Envelopment Analysis - DEA by the authors Vesna Garvanlieva Andonova and Borche Trenovski investigates the performances of public consumption of the countries of Southeastern Europe, (SEE) for the period 2010 - 2021, by carrying out a non-parameter analysis, i.e. an assessment of the efficiency limit. The authors use this technique to assess the efficiency of spendings in education, health and infrastructure. The authors conclude that the performances of the countries differ in terms of efficiency of their public expenditures and that for the countries in the region there is room for improving the efficiency in all three sectors.

The presentation resulted in a discussion among the participants encouraged by the presentation of the papers and the conclusions drawn. The 53rd session successfully wrapped up the Club’s activities for the calendar 2024. The next Research session will be held in March next year.