PRtOGRAMME FOR DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOUTHEAST PLANNING RE- GION 2015 – 2019 Strumica, Programme for development of the Southeast Planing Region 2015 - 2019 Content 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................5 2. MANNER AND METHODOLOGY OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROGRAMME ....................7 3. POINTS OF CONTACT BETWEEN THE PROGRAMME AND THE EU 2020 STRATEGY . 11 4. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SOUTHEAST PLANNING REGION .......................................... 13 4.1 Location ......................................................................................................................................................... 13 4.2 Climate and hydrographical characteristics................................................................................... 14 4.3 Natural resources and characteristics .............................................................................................. 15 4.4 Level of development of the Southeast Planning Region ......................................................... 16 5. DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS AND DEVELOPMENT ................................................ 19 6. ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SOUTHEAST PLANNING REGION.................... 23 6.1 Macroeconomic indicators .................................................................................................................... 23 6.2 Structure of enterprises .......................................................................................................................... 26 6.3 Foreign trade operations ........................................................................................................................ 27 7. LABOUR FORCE MARKET ............................................................................................................. 29 8. SOCIAL POLICY, EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT .............................................................. 33 8.1 Social policy and development ............................................................................................................ 33 8.2 Education and development ................................................................................................................. 35 9. TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURE ...................................................................................... 39 9.1 Municipal infrastructure ........................................................................................................................ 39 9.2 Road infrastructure .................................................................................................................................. 40 9.3 Railway infrastructure ............................................................................................................................. 46 9.4 Energy infrastructure and characteristics ...................................................................................... 47 10. TOURISM AND CULTURE ............................................................................................................ 49 10.1 Tourist offer of the region ................................................................................................................... 49 10.2 Analysis of the conditions in tourism and culture in the period 2009 – 2013 ............. 51 11. AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT........................................................................ 55 11.1 Agriculture ................................................................................................................................................. 55 11.2 Livestock husbandry ............................................................................................................................. 60 11.3 Rural development ................................................................................................................................. 61 12. ENVIRONMENT ............................................................................................................................. 63 12.1 Solid and liquid waste ........................................................................................................................... 63 12.2 Agriculture and the environment .................................................................................................... 64 12.3 Forests ......................................................................................................................................................... 65 12.4 Protected areas ........................................................................................................................................ 66 12.5 Climate change and its impact........................................................................................................... 67 13. AREAS WITH SPECIFIC DEVELOPMENT NEEDS .................................................................. 69 14. SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE SOUTHEAST PLANNING REGION ............................................. 73 14.1 Description of the SWOT analyses and their interconnectedness ..................................... 83 15. VISION AND MISSION OF THE SOUTHEAST PLANNING REGION ................................... 91 3 Programme for development of the Southeast Planing Region 2015 - 2019 16. STRATEGIC GOALS, PRIORITIES AND MEASURES – EXPECTED RESULTS AND 1. INTRODUCTION INDICATORS .......................................................................................................................................... 93 16.1 Strategic goal 1 – Supporting economic growth in the region ............................................ 93 16.2 Strategic goal 2 – Sustainable development of tourism and culture ................................ 96 prescribesThe Law on the Balanced planning Regional documents Development for its implementation. (Official Gazette Article of the 5 ofRepublic the Law of prescribes Macedonia, the No. establish 63/07)- mentdefines of theplanning basic frameworkregions in the for Republic balanced of regional Macedonia development as functional policy territorial management units for in the needscountry of andde- 16.3 Strategic goal 3 – Social and economic security in the region ............................................. 99 velopment planning and implementation of measures and instruments aimed at stimulating development. 16.4 Strategic goal 4 – Development of a modern infrastructure for economic development and improved living standard .......................................................................................106 16.5 Strategic goal 5 – Development of competitive agriculture and improving the life in providingPlanning regions a statistical correspond basis for to planning the statistical regional regions development. as defined by the Nomenclature of Territorial Units the rural areas ..................................................................................................................................................112 for Statistics NTES 3 (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia, No. 158/2007), with the purpose of - 16.6 Strategic goal 6 –Establishing sustainable environmental management systems ...119 17. FINANCING AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAMME .........................................122 According to the Nomenclature of Territorial Units, there are 8 planning regions in the Republic of Mac Strategyedonia: Vardar, for Regional East, DevelopmentSouthwest, Southeast, of the Republic Pelagonia, of Macedonia Polog, Northeast 2009 – 2019. and Skopje Planning Region. In accordance with the legal framework, planning regions are the main unit of development planning in the adoptedThe first thestrategic Programmes documents for development concerning planning of planning regions regions were 2010 prepared – 2014 and with adopted mutual withincoordination different of time periods from 2008 to 2010. Over the past period, planning regions, upon their establishment, have- stakeholders and mainly with the support of various international donors. The first Programme for Devel opment of the Southeast Planning Region was prepared in the period March – December 2007, that is to wassay, beforepartially the revised establishment and in 2010 of the it was Centre approved for Development by the Council of the for Southeast Balanced RegionalPlanning DevelopmentRegion, with broadof the Republicparticipation of Macedonia of stakeholders together and with with the the programmes support of the of GTZother REDEM planning Project. regions. Afterwards, the Programme in development between and within planning regions. Regional development is founded on its complexity Regional development is a complex and long-term process which main objective is to lower the disparities and multidimensionality, that is to say, interweaving the economic, demographic, social, spatial, cultural and many other perspectives of development. For that reason, the successful implementation of regional bydevelopment relevant institutions. policy directly depends on the broader understanding of the regional development concept, efficient linking of regional development policy with sectoral policies and securing the necessary support - nationalIn that context, organisations regional for development development presumes cooperation. continuous financial support by the state and, at the same time, a high degree of coordination between ministries, stakeholders on regional and local level, and inter - - ingAs