ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE RURAL AREAS OF THE POLOG PLANNING REGION IN THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

The aim of this paper is to incorporate new findings in the body of knowledge regarding entrepreneurship in rural areas of the Polog Planning Region in the Republic of Macedonia. In that view interviewing was conducted with 15 owners of SMEs in rural areas who were presented four sets of statements that are important for understanding of the situation with entrepreneurship in rural areas of the Polog Planning Region in the Republic of Macedonia valued at five-degree scale from irrelevant to that of priority. One of the conclusions, by which the state of entrepreneurship of SMEs in rural areas of the Polog Region of the Republic of Macedonia is assessed, based on empirical research and compared with the results of an identical research on rural entrepreneurship on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia, is that the rural entrepreneur from that region of the country has inadequate entrepreneurial qualities, significantly lower than the entrepreneurial qualities possessed by rural entrepreneurs on the whole territory of the Republic of Macedonia. The most significant development priorities of the Polog region in the coming period are: 1) Increasing the level of economic development by raising competitiveness and productivity. 2) Improving the existing and constructing new regional transport, agriculture and communication infrastructure. 3) Improving the environment in the region and securing sustainable regional development. 4) Raising the educational level of the population and improving human resources development. 5) The Polog Planning Region is the leading agricultural region with fast rural development. 6) The Polog Planning Region is recognizable regional mountain tourism centre. 7) Improving and raising the percentage of marginalized groups in education, culture and the workforce.