On the 21^st regular session of the Council for Development of the East Planning Region held on August 31^st, 2011 in the Municipality of Pehchevo, one of the items on the agenda was the election of a new President of the Council for Development of the East Planning Region.

The sole candidate for this position, the Mayor of the Municipality of Kochani, Mr. Ratko Dimitrovski, who has held this position to date, was nominated by the Mayor of the Municipality of Pehchevo, Mr. Jovancho Stanoevski. The proposal to reelect Mr. Dimitrovski for a new mandate covering the next two years was put to a vote and unanimously adopted.

According to the decision of Government of the Republic of Macedonia no. 19-6333/1 from 15^th December 2009 for the allocation of funds to finance development projects planning regions in 2009 (Official Gazette no.150 of 17^th December 2009) and the Agreement for the implementation of projects in the East Region concluded between MLS - BRD and Development Center of the East Region on 18^th December 2009, in partnership with the affected municipalities in the region, in 2010 and 2011 the Centre has completed the following projects:

1. Building eco path connecting Lesnovo village and municipality Probishtip and Pantelej village in Kocani municipality;
2. Preparation of feasibility studies for construction of mini accumulation of river Kosevichka;
3. Alert signalisation and tourist sites in microregion Pijanec - Malesh;
4. Preparation of Feasibility Study with designs for construction of small reservoirs in the area Aramiska cheshma;
5. Paving the road from Pantelej  village to Rajchani village, in municipality of Kochani, by connecting Tursko rudare village in Municipatility of Probistip;
6. Construction of a collection system in s.Mirashinci, Berovo I (first) phase.

The first four (4 ) projects have been completed, while projects under number 5 ( five ) and 6 ( six ) are nearing completion and are expected to finalize them by the end of June 2011.

On March 31, 2011, at the Hotel National in Kochani, with the President of Macedonia, Georgi Ivanov, in attendance, a presentation entitled "Geothermal Energy in Macedonia - Kochani Basin” was delivered. The purpose of the presentation was to promote geothermal energy in Macedonia, with special emphasis on the Kochani Basin and highlight incentives offered by the Municipality of Kochani to invest in geothermal projects. The presentation was delivered by professors from the University of St. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje and Goce Delchev University in Shtip who prepared the paper.

On March 25, 2011, in the municipality Pehchevo, a meeting on the project "The Balkan Bike Trail” was held, during which future activities to be undertaken by the Center for Development of the Eastern Planning Region and partner municipalities were discussed in preparation for the upcoming workshop in Sandanski, Bulgaria. The Center for Development of the Eastern Planning Region has partnered with Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and the Center for Development of the Southeast Planning Region to complete this project, which aims to create bicycle paths as part of "The Iron Curtain Trail” in the border regions of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece and Romania.

On March 24, 2011, at the Hotel National, a public meeting was held for the completion of a feasibility study for the construction of a small reservoir in Aramiska Cheshma. The study was presented by Vlatko Dimitrovski from the Chakar & Partners consulting house as an initiative of the Center for Development of the East Planning Region. During the presentation, an extensive discussion took place during which participants offered their insights and observations regarding the project. The authors of the study answered  questions from the audience, will provide extended written responses to certain questions, and will incorporate a number of comments and suggestions into the study.

On March 18, 2011, the Municipality of Delchevo hosted the final presentation of the "Signage for Tourist sites in the Micro-region Pijanec-Malesh.” The project sponsor is the Center for Development of the East Planning Region, and the Municipalities of Delchevo, Pehchevo and Berovo. Financial resources were provided by MLS-Regional Bureau for Development through the 2009 Program for Balanced and Sustainable Regional Development and the 2009 Program for Attractive Planning Regions, contributing 73.5% of the budget and the remaining 26.5% of the budget being supplied by the three municipalities, for a total of MKD 1.33 million.

Representatives from the three partner municipalities, representatives of the Center for Development of Eastern Planning Region, the President of the Council for the Development of the Eastern Planning Region, representatives from the Regional Development Bureau, the Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Macedonia, tourism professionals, local citizens, and local and national media had the opportunity to briefly introduce the results of the project, advertise the project in downtown Delchevo, and to attend the presentation of the project.

On March 15, 2011, the Ministry of Economy in cooperation with the Ministry of Local Government held a meeting with prospective consultants for the preparation of the terms of reference for the IPA project "Capacity Building for the Implementation of Industrial Policy." The meeting was held at the Ministry of Economy, who had successfully submitted an application for an IPA project to support the implementation of a proactive industrial policy at all stages and areas of intervention through two components:

• Component 1: Strengthening institutional capacity for implementation, evaluation and revision of a proactive industrial policy.
• Component 2: Creating programs to implement the following four priority areas of industrial policy (i) increased innovation, (ii) new eco-technology products and services for sustainable development, (iii) accelerated internationalization and business partnerships, and (iv) facilitation of dialogue with the business community.

The meeting was attended by selected consultants to prepare tender documentation for the IPA project to be undertaken from 2012 to 2014.