Moderator
Stephen Little has served as Senior Economic Officer in the Economic Growth Division at the USAID E&E Bureau for the past 8 years and is the Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) of the EDGE project. Prior to the E&E Bureau, Mr. Little was a Country Coordinator at the U.S. Department of State and served as Private Enterprise Officer for USAID in Jordan, Iraq, Hungary, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan. Mr. Little holds a JD from the University of Miami School of Law and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin.
Speakers
Jasminka Varnalieva is Chief of Party of the USAID Economic Development, Governance and Enterprise Growth Project (EDGE). Dr. Varnalieva is an international development professional with 35+ years of experience holding high management positions on multiple USAID, EU, and World Bank bilateral and regional projects supporting business enabling environment improvement, private sector development, investment transparency, and competitiveness. Dr. Varnalieva has been very successful in assisting companies, business associations, and governments to achieve economic growth, development and competitiveness through innovation and technology development. Dr. Varnalieva holds a BA, MA, and Ph.D. in Economics, all attained at the University Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje.
Saso Risteski is a co-owner and project manager at Macedonia Consulting Group (MCG). Mr. Risteski specializes in agribusiness and over the last 25 years has been involved in the design, implementation, and management of projects in agriculture production, trade promotion, market linkages, business enabling environment, regional cooperation, association development, and competitiveness. Mr. Risteski has worked on numerous donor projects (USAID, World Bank, SIPPO, GIZ, SIDA, CIDA, EAR, FAO). At present, Mr. Risteski is a Western Balkan Fruit and Vegetable Expert on EDGE. He is also a member of the national Agriculture and Rural Development Council in North Macedonia and a member of the IPARD (EU pre-accession assistance) monitoring committee. In addition to North Macedonia, Mr. Risteski has worked across the Western Balkans in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, and Albania.
Blagoja Miloshevski is a management consultant specializing in the areas of business and operational planning, financial planning, and implementation of management information systems (MIS) for the light manufacturing sector. Over the last 15 years, he has provided consulting services to SMEs involved in metal processing, wood and furniture, textiles and apparel, and food processing industries in the countries of the Western Balkan region. Mr. Miloshevski holds a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University Ss Cyril and Methodius in Skopje.
Blagoja Mukanov is an expert in precision agriculture and farm business development with 18 years of experience in applied economics in agriculture and agricultural development with a focus on digital technologies. Mr. Mukanov founded his company – AgFutura Technologies – in 2016. AgFutura is one of the first companies in North Macedonia working in precision agriculture for large- and small-scale farming, dedicated to modernizing agriculture in the region. One of the core services that the company offers is project development and execution, mainly in European (Horizon) and national projects. Since 2016, Mr. Mukanov has executed more than 10 Horizon and many national projects, participating as a senior consultant and researcher. He holds a Certificate in International Development with emphasis on Applied Economics and Management from Cornell University.
