The Minister of Digital Transformation, Stefan Andonovski, addressed the Macedonia-India Business Forum, where he presented the proposed project for improving the Central Population Registry, for which realization a support has been proposed from the India-UN Development Partnership Fund.
In the presence of the President of the Republic of India and President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, Minister Andonovski emphasized that the project represents a concrete and promising first step towards deepening the digital and economic cooperation between the two countries.
"The goal is practical and citizen-oriented - to transform reliable and accurate data into better decisions and higher-quality public services. The Central Population Registry already represents the foundation for secure digital services and identity verification, and with its enhancement, we will create an even more efficient and interconnected system," emphasised Andonovski.
The proposed project envisions the integration of key civil registries, improving data quality through the application of artificial intelligence, and the development of analytical tools for data-driven and evidence-based policy creation. The implementation of new technologies will be carried out with institutional oversight and mandatory human supervision.
The implementation of the project is expected to yield faster and higher quality services for citizens and companies, fewer administrative procedures, and better targeting of public investments.
“Companies should not act as couriers between institutions. Data should flow, not citizens and businesses. That is precisely why the enhancement of the Central Population Register is crucial for the establishment of efficient, secure, and fully digital public services," stated the minister.
Andonovski pointed out that India, with its experience in developing digital public infrastructure and systems such as Aadhaar, DigiLocker, UPI and India Stack, is an exceptional partner for Macedonia. At the same time, Macedonia can be a dedicated European partner and a regional example of adapting Indian expertise to the needs of a smaller country, in accordance with European standards.
The Minister called on Indian companies, investors, universities and research centres to establish partnerships with Macedonia in the areas of digital public services, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, financial technologies, cloud solutions and digital skills.
"Let us build a digital and economic bridge along which knowledge, investments, technology and ideas will flow freely. Let us not measure the distance between Macedonia and India in kilometres, but through the strength of our cooperation and the results we achieve together," concluded Andonovski.
