The Macedonian stock exchange is joining the "Ring the Bell for Gender Equality" Initiative this year as well. The theme for 2023 is "DigitAll: technology and innovation for gender equality", which precisely on International Women's Day recognizes the contribution of women around the world who advocate for the advancement of transformative technology and digital education. The initiative, which is supported by 123 other stock exchanges, aims at raising awareness of gender equality in the private sector, issues related to the economy, finance and sustainable development.
On this occasion, today, the bell of the Macedonian Stock Exchange was rung jointly by Darinka Damjanovic, Executive Director of CSD, Jasna Smileva, Coordinator of the Capital Market Supervision Department at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Katerina Ilic-Nonkulovska, Head of the Securities Services Department at NLB Bank Skopje, Vesna Karkinska, Executive Director at Generali Investments and Ivan Shteriev, Chief Executive Officer of the Macedonian Stock Exchange.
On this occasion, the Chief Executive Officer of the Stock Exchange, Ivan Shteriev, said " The inclusion of the Macedonian Stock Exchange in the global Initiative "Ring the bell for gender equality" three years ago, was an expression of the Stock Exchange's commitment to raise the topic of gender equality in businesses in Macedonia to a higher social level, that is, the belief that domestic businesses will become more successful if the degree of inclusion of women in the business world is increased, which will further utilize their creative potential. In this direction, the development and wider application of innovative digital technologies can and should be a tool to overcome the current gender inequality in various spheres of corporate life and strengthen the entrepreneurial and managerial potential of women".
"The topic of equality in the financial world has been discussed here for several years. Taking into account all the expressed commitments for greater involvement of women in managerial positions, that is, their greater representation in the management bodies, the Commission translated them into a specific legal solution. Namely, the proposal of the law on financial instruments regulates the equal representation of both genders in the management bodies of all entities under the supervision of the Commission. This request will not remain only on paper, on the contrary, we in the Commission will insist that equal representation be achieved in the first years of the implementation of this law'' said Jasna Smileva, Coordinator of the Capital Market Supervision Department at the Securities Commission.
“Faced with the challenges of the last few years on the world stage, including in the capital markets, gender equality has become not only a necessity but also a source of synergy in the business sphere and in the digitalization processes. The experience showed that turbulent times are a catalyst for finding innovative common solutions. In that context, there is still room for promoting women in the capital market and its digital development'' pointed out Katerina Ilic-Nonkulovska, Head of the Securities Services Department, NLB Bank Skopje.
This is the 9th campaign of the global Initiative "Ring the bell for gender equality " which is a partnership between The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Federation of Stock Exchanges (WFE), the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (SSE), in which the Macedonian Stock Exchange is a participant, the Global UN agreement, UN Women and Women in ETFs, to promote gender equality in capital markets.
In order to strengthen social awareness for achieving greater gender equality, the Stock Exchange this year publishes an updated analysis of the situation with the gender structure of the management bodies of listed joint-stock companies, which is available at the following link: https://www.mse.mk/en/news/8/3/2023/gender-analysis-2023