COOPERATION
The Fund for Innovation and Technological Development (FITD) is implementing the Skills Development and Innovation Support Project in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science. The objective of this project is to improve transparency of resource allocation and promote accountability in higher education, enhance the relevance of secondary technical vocational education and support innovation capacity in the country.
Skills Development and Innovation Project
The goal of Skills Development and Innovation Support Project is to increase the transparency of resource allocation, to promote accountability in higher education and enhance the relevance of secondary technical vocational education and to support innovation capacity in the country. The implementation of the Project in the amount of 17.7 million euros consists of the following components:
Part 1: Improving transparency of higher education
- Quality assurance in higher education;
- Higher education funding reforms;
- Development of a national technology transfer office.
Relevant institution: Ministry of Education and Science of R. North Macedonia.
Part 2: Modernization of secondary Technical Vocational Education and Training
- Quality and labor market relevance of technical vocational education and provision of training;
- Grants for schools- industry collaboration.
Relevant institution: Ministry of Education and Science of R. North Macedonia.
Part 3: Improving innovative capacity of enterprises and cooperation with research organizations
Capacity building for the Fund for Innovation and Technological Development
Improving Fund’s institutional competence through: (a) planning and designing programs, strategies, operations and procedures; (b) providing training for the Fund’s personnel (c) selection of an investment committee and reviewers; (d) providing training to companies- beneficiaries of the Fund; and (e) implementing marketing and communications strategy.
Pilot of financial investments to be delivered by the Fund
The Fund provides innovation support through: (a) providing grants for innovation to accelerate funding; (b) providing innovation grants for concept innovation proof; (c) providing innovation grants or innovation sub-loans to finance research and development commercialization; and (d) providing innovation grants to fund technology development activities and technology absorption for new or improved technologies, products and processes.
Innovation sub-projects will be selected, evaluated, implemented and marked in accordance with the principles, procedures and conditions set out in the Project Operational Manual, Operational manual of the Fund, Procurement and consultant Guidelines, Anti-Corruption Guidelines, Rulebook for environmental management.
The Innovation grants will be denominated in Macedonian denars.
The Fund will not be able to withdraw funds for the instruments before the World Bank gives a positive assessment of the structure, staff, tasks and financial management capacity of the Fund, as well as before the Operational Manual of the Fund is approved
External experts will be engaged during the evaluation of the project proposals.
Relevant institution: Fund for Innovation and Technological Development.
Part 4: Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation
This part is intended for the functioning of the Project Implementation Unit which will be established in the Ministry of Education and Science.
Relevant institution: Ministry of Education and Science of R. North Macedonia.
Beneficiaries of the loan are: the Ministry of Education and Science (8,496,000 euros) and the Fund for Innovation and Technological Development (9,159,750 euros).
Negotiations with the representatives of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development – World Bank for concluding a Loan Agreement for the Skills Development and Innovation Project were successfully completed on December 12, 2013 and the project was approved by the World Bank.
