pilot municipalities that will implement the concept of Municipal Wireless and Municipal FTTx. Measure 2.8.d A conference shall be organized for the promotion and establishment of a public-private partnership for the construction and development of sustainable municipal electronic communications networks and systems supported partially by interested donators. Measure 2.8.e Initiative for inter-municipal border cooperation of municipalities from the Republic of Macedonia with municipalities from the neighbouring countries; in particular, the Euro-regions will be used for the realisation of pilot projects of the sort. Measure 2.8.f Local government shall put in place the ICT infrastructure necessary for the functioning of the e-points in the rural areas33. Measure 2.8.g Local government in cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Macedonia shall provide sustainable, controlled and secure internet connection34 for the primary and the secondary schools, as well as access to education related e-services. II.9. ICT for Development of Small and Medium Enterprises II.9.1. Trends and current situation The pillar of the European economy are the 20 million small and medium enterprises (SMEs). They represent 99% of all EU enterprises and provide approximately 65 million jobs. In the Republic of Macedonia, SMEs represent over 98% of all enterprises and have over 250 thousand employees (over 53% of the total number of employees). Usually, SMEs are divided into: • dynamic and flexible organisations, with larger power of innovation and large assortment of products and services, • traditional ones, based on inclusion of the family, included in the local business environment • starting, vulnerable organisations fighting for survival and existence. They create added value, new ideas and are the main source of new jobs. By using information and communication technologies (ICT), SMEs have better development opportunities: • they become able to buy and sell via Internet • they reduce total costs 33 34 having in mind the model described in the case study. taking into consideration the positive experience with the USAID project - MKConnects Page 27 of 40