WORLD FZO’S 5TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 2019
A team from North Macedonia Free Zones – DTIDZ, led by Aleksandar Mladenovski, CEO, took part in this year’s 5th International Conference & Exhibition 2019 organized by the World Free Zones Organization (WFZO), held in Barcelona, Spain, from June 26th to the 29th. The event highlighted the direct contribution of free zones in strengthening the trade movement and growth of economic activities around the world. The annual event is an opportunity for World FZO members to gain insight on critical issues affecting free zones, as well as the chance to network with key international decision makers impacting business, trade, and investment.
In April this year, the World Free Zones Organization launched the Izdihar Prosperity Index, a global initiative for local prosperity. Multiple measuring metrics within this Index allow free zones to assess how prosperous their activities are and will help them define areas of improvement, all with official validation of the numbers achieved.
Under the comprehensive theme, Free Zone 4.0 meets Economy 4.0, the fifth AICE addressed solutions to combat illegal trade in free zones and presented tools for measuring and monitoring prosperity in free zones around the world. The event also examined the challenges raised by e-commerce, explored the impact of changing the political landscape on free zone activity, and assessed ways to strengthen the global value chain through free zones and beyond. AICE also hosted major plenary sessions, panel discussions, as well as parallel workshops and a large exhibition of free zones around the world.
During the panel discussions, members shared their knowledge and experience of managing free zones throughout the world. Six panel sessions were held in total, covering topics from logistics, e-commerce, e-learning, to transparency, data, and economy. Discussions explored networking with key international decision makers that have an impact on business, as well as the important role that free zones play in supporting global supply and value chains.
The CEO of North Macedonia Free Zones – DTIDZ, Aleksandar Mladenovski, held a presentation on Data 4.0 – Measuring the Intangible, dealing with the measurement of results that are hard to quantify in the free zones, such as, trust, responsibility or prosperity. His presentation topic also explored what the appropriate key performance indicators are for public accountability, management effectiveness, and operational performance.
The objective of this year’s conference and exhibition is to help free zones create more sustainable value through operational efficiency, adopting international best practices and improved decision making.