At the beginning of the meeting, the President stated that there is a quorum, and according to the Statute, the Assembly can make valid decisions.

The Report on the activities carried out in 2013 was presented, which was previously delivered to all members (as part of the attachments for the Assembly). It was concluded that the greatest success in 2013 was the First MATA Conference, which was successfully organized and well attended (almost 100 attendees). Thanks to this conference, the number of MATA members increased, and the Association ended the year with a positive balance.

An activity that started in 2013, and which will continue in 2014, is the competition for the Babylon Award for the best young translator. 

Within the next item of the Agenda, the following positions were unanimously elected: president (Irena Katsarski-Kimova), vice president (Hristina Dojchinova), secretary (Bojan Kitsurovski), member of the Management Authority (Ljubica Arsova) and member of the Authority of management (Ana Popova-Manasievska).

It was stated that the Working Groups should work more seriously in 2014. For those reasons, new coordinators were appointed and all those present at the Assembly had the opportunity to choose which WG they wanted to joint. The President emphasized that each WG should implement at least one activity.

Those present, during the meeting, had the opportunity to register in the working groups which they want to join.

In continuation possible topics for the next conference were discussed and in order to satisfy the interests of all translators, it was proposed during the conference to work in several simultaneous sessions, etc. In the end, it was concluded that after the Assembly, all members will be able to submit their suggestions for topics to the Association's email address.

In addition to this, working meetings of the members of the Association (at least 4) were discussed, on specific topics. Some of the topics that were proposed were: public procurement and translations, court translation, application of the standard, educating the public about translation as a process, translation prices, quality control, raising awareness among translators, proofreaders and cooperation with proofreaders etc.

A meeting was proposed with the translation agencies, as the most responsible for reducing the price of translation, but unfortunately, after previous attempts to cooperate, it was found that they are not in the mood for cooperation. However, MATA will try to maintain contacts with larger translation agencies.

In addition to the mentioned activities, the activities in 2014 will also focus on raising the awareness of clients, promoting the translation standards, preparing new project proposals to apply for funds from various donors, improving the visibility of MATA.

The annual Assembly was opened by the President who presented the financial results for 2014.

The report on the conference organized in 2013 was shared.

Communication with members and other translators must be improved through social networks with short and visual news and information. We must work on communication and increasing the number of members. A discussion developed on how to achieve all this.

Activities that have been completed in the past year have been shared ("Babylon", applying for project funds)

Next year, "Babylon" and the Conference will be repeated, we need to determine activities to be implemented in 2015 and the PR group will follow up and prepare activities for promotion.

Some activities that were planned for 2014 should be organized by the American Corner (press conferences, court translation, subtitling, literary translation).

A workshop prepared once can be repeated with other members.

The website should contain a library for our members. The president's proposal was unanimously accepted that the conference should not be international but local and should focus more on our local problems. Ognena proposed a conference on several different topics, with discussion and a moderator.

By March, a meeting should be organized on a maximum of three. We must have a workshop on prices (gross and net price, etc.).

The Management Board will develop a concept for the new conference and determine the organizing committee.

Also, in 2015, a meeting with proofreaders for Macedonian and Albanian language is planned in order to determine unresolved issues regarding linguistic mistakes.

The members shared their experiences regarding the application of the new Law on the Use of Languages.

In addition to the reviewing the MATA activities implemented in 2015, the Assembly also passed the following decision:

MATA should be renamed by adding the words "and interpreters" to the name, so that it will read "Macedonian Translators and Interpreters Association", and it will include the profession of interpreter as separate and distinct profession.

It is necessary to schedule an additional meeting to discuss the need for re-registration; possible logo change; and possible change in the abbreviations of the name.

The Self-Employment Model was also discussed, and it was concluded that it should be further improved in 2016.

A forum on the draft Law on Court Translation should be organized at the University of Stip "Goce Delchev". The Ministry of Justice should adopt a Regulation on Tariffs, which should contain rates and tariffs.

It was discussed to hold workshops for the members of the Association, on the topics of quality of translations, translation software (Trados, Wordfast), terminology, simultaneous interpretation.

It was proposed to create a working group that will collect and organize the knowledge from the questionnaires from the last conference. The results would guide activities and individual working groups (eg, topics for workshops would be determined).

Participation of MATA in other conferences - it was decided to open a call for each conference and all active members should be given the opportunity to apply with a presentation proposal. MATA will co-finance the costs.

It was also discussed that, perhaps due to time constraints, the representative of MATA to participate at the General Assembly of CEATL in June 2016 in Barcelona, will be appointed by the Management Board.

At the end of the Assembly, a discussion developed with regard to the MATA Fourth International Conference to be held in Ohrid.

Within the first item of the agenda, the President gave a brief overview of the activities in the past year. Basic activities and procedures are in place, but there are other things that will need to be completed by the new Management Board. During the past six years of its existence, MATA became known as a professional association and carried out a series of significant activities such as the annual conferences, the "Babylon" award for the best young translator, various workshops, presentations and info days for the Association. It created a concept for self-employment, analysed the Law on Royalties. These activities should continue in the future. The association networked, became a partner association of IAPTI, Termnet, and also became part of CEATL.

The President emphasized that it is very important to regionally network and unite with other associations, such as Croatian and Serbian associations. These links need to be strengthened.

A discussion developed about the activities during 2016. The conference made it possible to strengthen ties with translators and interpreters from other countries. Later on the financial report and the report from the conference was discussed.

The Assembly continued with a discussion about the Award for the best young translator, "Babylon".

The Association in 2016 prepared a proposal for self-employment, a proposal for amending the Draft Law on Court Translation, and a Rulebook for Writing Names, a Rulebook for Tariffs, etc. The President informed that the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Moldova contacted the Association to suggest a member for the working group of the Ministry developing the Rulebook for Tariffs in the Litigation Procedure. This Regulation would also regulate the fees of court translators and interpreters.

The Association during 2016 organized several workshops: court translation workshop at the University of Shtip; a workshop for legal protection of translators and interpreters; a round table on interpretation.

The President presented the Mentorship Program that will start in September 2017, as well as the Memorandum of Cooperation with the "Filip II" Special Hospital from Skopje.

It was proposed to organize a workshop dedicated to communication and negotiation with clients. The general conclusion is that we have not taken advantage of internal learning possibilities.

MATA provided sponsorship for the "Friends of Education" Association Conference held in Struga. It was decided to continue this practice in the future.

All recorded materials should be placed on our YouTube channel and on the appropriate media, website, etc. All guest appearances in 2016 were listed, which are also detailed in the 2016 activity report.

At the end the candidates for the new Management Board were elected. Discussions on various topics were opened under the last item in the Agenda.

The assembly began with a brief overview of the position of MATA and the work done in 2017. The financial results (income, expenses and current situation) were also presented. A discussion developed on the financial results and the cost forecasts for 2018.

The activities of MATA in 2017 and the results of the call for the second cycle of mentoring activities were presented. The position and comments regarding the Law on Public Procurement in the Republic of Macedonia have been prepared. The cooperation of MATA with the Ministry of Justice was elaborated.
Considering that translation software training is needed by a large number of members, MATA will organize a training on Trados.

A discussion developed about literary translation. It was requested MATA to define the verse, so that the translators of poetry are not abused by the publishers.

Interest was expressed for participating in international conferences. In case of a specific proposal, MATA will consider options to cover part of the cost for participation.

It was emphasized that the Association should be present at conferences in the region.

After a long discussion and proposals for activities, the President closed the Assembly.

The activities of MATA in the past year were presented. It was emphasized that the main problem of MATA is that the activities are carried out mainly by the same people. However, several new members joined in the last year, which led to a very large number of activities, significantly larger compared to previous years.
Due to new developments in the Association, it is necessary to hold a strategic planning workshop in order to reorganize operations, improve communication with members etc. Several documents have been prepared (change of membership procedure, professional development program), which should be reviewed and discussed with all members.

The Financial Report for the past year was presented and the conclusion is that the main source of income of MATA are the membership fees. The attendees approved the Narrative and the Financial Report.

- All members should follow calls for funding projects and see if some of the planned activities can fit into the call, so they should get involved in the preparation of project proposals.

- To open "mobile" offices in other cities of the country so that MATA is closer to the students and citizens of those places (e.g. to organize practical workshops for literary translation at the local level).

- MATA to work on defining the rates for verse and drama, something that was a conclusion of the last Assembly, but which was not implemented so far

- Ideas for raising the visibility of MATA were shared: printing t-shirts with the logo of MATA and using them at public events (e.g. Skopje Marathon etc.).

- MATA should initiate discussions with the Ministry of Justice regarding the test for court interpreters, given the poor quality of the court translation market. Our vision is to introduce training for court interpreters and to encourage (re)licensing of court interpreters.

An idea was presented about introducing a mandatory professional development program for the members. Apart from raising the standards, the program will also encourage the members to get more actively involved in the operation of MATA.

The President thanked those present for their contribution to the work of the Assembly and closed the session.

In 2020, thanks to the engagement of the working groups and the Management Board, we can say that MATA had a fairly successful year.
Due to the pandemic, most of the activities took place online, but although primarily a handicap, this way of work also brought us many advantages. For example, the possibility for speakers and participants from abroad and from other cities in Macedonia to attend the events and the conference.

In 2020 MATA organized 1 annual conference, has 27 new members (14 active, 13 associate) and hosted 12 events of which two live and the rest online.

Some of the activities organized were as follows:
On January 27, 2020, we organized a workshop to discuss the situation with prices on the market.
The ANNUAL ASSEMBLY was held on February 22 in Kumanovo. It was the last event with a live presence and was organized with a minimal carbon footprint on the environment.
In March 2020, we conducted an ONLINE SURVEY in order to assess the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on translators and interpreters in the country.
On April 5, WE RESPONDED TO THE GOVERNMENT demanding that translators and interpreters receive financial assistance as one of the professions most affected by the pandemic.
On April 27, an INTERVIEW WITH THE WINNERS OF BABYLON 2018, Ardita Zulfiu and Nikola Spasovski, was published on the Vecher Press online media.

In May, ZPRM joined the REQUEST TO EU AUTHORITIES for ambitious budget measures that will enable language professionals to overcome the crisis. We have signed the online petition submitted to the European Commission.
Our delegate in the COUNCIL OF ASSOCIATIONS OF LITERARY TRANSLATORS (CEATL), Kalina Janeva participated in the work of the Council and attended their annual meeting, held in May 2020 also online.
In May, our members participated in an activity of Europe House for recommending books. Videos were recorded that went viral on social media and are available on our YouTube channel.
On May 28, we published the RECOMMENDATIONS FOR REMOTE INTERPRETING DURING A PANDEMIC, an activity of the WG for Interpretation.
On May 29, the article about ZPRM was published on WIKIPEDIA. It is an activity of the WG for Public Relations, and preparations are underway to publish the translations in other languages.
On May 30, the SUBTITLING WORKSHOP was held with Jane Bozinovski. There was great interest and the workshop was very educational and fun.
On June 17, we received a notice that the GOVERNMENT ACCEPTS OURS RECOMMENDATIONS for remote interpretation in conditions of a pandemic and submitted them to all institutions in order to respect them when organizing events with simultaneous or consecutive interpretation.
On June 20, the WORKSHOP ON MACEDONIAN LANGUAGE was held with Violeta Tancheva-Zlateva. In July, the 100th member joined.
On August 22, ZPRM organized a TRAINING FOR THE SDL TRADOS TRANSLATION TOOL. The training was held by Sonja Kitanovska and there was great interest in her.
Cooperation was started with four BOOKSTORES FOR THE SALE OF THE GUIDE THROUGH THE LEGAL SYSTEMS IN THE REGION ("Polica" in Skopje, and three more in Bitola, Veles and Kumanovo).
On September 14, the first COFFEE WITH THE TRANSLATOR was held, organized by RG for Literary Translation, with Ognena Nikuljski. Ognena spoke about her experience translating South American authors, and the event was moderated by Nikola Gelincheski.

During the whole year, we implemented the campaign BOOKS ARE NOT TRANSLATED BY THEMSELVES, during which translators sent pictures of books they translated with their name on the title page. The aim was to raise the awareness of the general public about the importance and role of the translator.

These were only some of the activities organized by MATA in the past year.