1.       What is your first contact with Macedonia and what were your impressions?

a.       I know Macedonia since 1981 and I have lived here since 1991, I have a little bit Macedonian genes from my mother’s side. I like Macedonia and the people because they put the daily problems into perspective and of course because of the fantastic nature and climate.

2.       When did you decide to open your company in Macedonia and what were the main reasons for your decision?

a.       Already in 1992, I started my company but I made a few turn-around with the activities of the company. In 2006, I decided to quit with the sales and service of medical diagnostic and analytical products and to start activities in the field of designing and developing computer games and inter-active web applications for the entertainment industry. The main reason for this turn-around was that the internet entertainment business is growing every year with more than 100%.

The activity for opening the company started in 2006 and at that time the company started to design casual games (downloadable games) and web applications. Regarding the capital it was necessary to find more capital because it was very difficult to find bank loans for this kind of activity. In 2007, we contacted a company in the Netherlands called “I SIOUX TAURUS” and we started a co-operation with them  which resulted in the founding of the new company “I SIOUX TAURUS DOO” in January 2008. We are now with 5 equal shareholders (all from the Netherlands) with me as the independent CEO of the company. At the moment, the company has 30 employees out of which 3 people perform overall services, 12 people are involved in media production and the rest in game production. The daily management is completely in the hands of young Macedonian managers.

3.       What are the main areas that your company is working in?

a.       One part of the company is completely focused on the production of downloadable casual games intended mainly for women aged between 35 and 55. We focus on time management, role play and simulation games. The other part is building WEB 2.0 applications exclusively for the Dutch market and also here more directly to the entertainment market. We are very specialized in the field of interactive audio video communication.

4.       What are the pros and cons of working in Macedonia? Would you recommend it to other (Dutch) investors to come to Macedonia, and what are the facts they have to know before they come here?

a.       The positive side is that Macedonians are very loyal to the company and are ready to adapt to the culture you want to have in your company. They have to learn to work in teams and to take responsibility, but they learn fast.
One of the areas where I would like to see improvement is the functioning of the court system in Macedonia. Sometimes it is very hard to get your court case on the role. However, Macedonia is obliged as a candidate country for EU-membership to speed up the reforms and processes in the judicial system. Some of the laws  are outdated, especially for the IT-industry. But I have seen a lot of improvements in the past year or so.  

b.      The success of your investment in MK depends ton yourself as an investor. It is important to keep the general management in your own “Dutch” hands but take immediately a good and young management team; there are well qualified and capable young people on the Macedonian market.

5.       Do you cooperate with any Macedonian partners?

a.       It is not a problem to work with the Macedonians on a daily basis, they are very loyal, talented people and willing to realize the targets, and are very likely to adapt to the Dutch mentality of working.  To decide whom you cooperate with should be done with very high care and after intensive  research; not only on the professional side but also on the background of your (possible) Macedonian partner. What I decided to do with my company  is that I took one talented manager as my assistant and we made an educational program for her. Now, she is involved in all of the decision making processes in the company. I believe that in 2-3 years she will be ready to run the company on her own.  The only problem is that  my Macedonian colleagues do not always understand my Dutch sense of humor (.J)

6.       What about your co-operation with the Macedonian institutions (governmental, municipal, judicial, customs etc.)?

a.       There is a huge progress in the functioning of the MK institutions and I am happy with that and do hope that they will remain on this track. My only problem is the instability of the court system and the incompleteness of the law for working permissions for foreigners, but this is due to the old law that is in force since the independence of the country in 1991.

8.       Is there an interest for your products in Macedonia?

a.       We know that Macedonians are buying our games. Although our market is the entire globe, we are making more than 70% of our turnover in the USA. Our top products you can find at our portal www.youdagames.com

9.       Is there enough skilled work force in Macedonia for your type of business?

a.       There are very talented people in Macedonia with lots of personal qualities but we see that the Faculties are not focused on the necessary technologies existing on the market today. We clearly see that the focus is put on a few programming education programmes and not on the latest technologies. At the Art Academy, the education in digital art is not existent at all. We always have the problem of investing a lot of time and money in the education of the people we work with. Therefore, we have started to work with the Dutch government with the help of the Dutch Embassy to look into possibilities to give the students the Dutch knowhow of the technology. So we always take very talented people and than we need more than 1 year before they can work on the desired level.

10.    Has the crisis affected you in any way?

a.       The crises has two effects on our company. On the one hand we have troubles finding sufficient loans for pre-financing our products. On the other hand is the  deteriorating economic situation very profitable for the gaming industry. So we have to be very  conscious and deliberate regarding the games we develop and finance our developments by ourselves with the profits we make.

11.  Is there something else you would like to tell the readers of this newsletter?

a.       Success is something personal and has nothing to do with investment climate, political situation or culture. If you can manage this than success is guaranteed. Macedonia is a beautiful country with very nice people and the reason it became my country is because of my Macedonian roots.

 http://isiouxtaurus.com/