May 24, 2018 - Various help and support actions to the development of the economy, business zone, and business clusters, as well as the process of strategic planning for the development of the national brand, will be presented in 2018 in the joint project of the Ministry of Economy and the United Nations Development Program. The value of this project is estimated at 120.000 EUR.
Executive Director for Investment and Development of Small and Medium Enterprises and Management of European Union’s Funds, Radosav Babic, and United Nations Development Program Resident Representative for Montenegro, Fiona McCluney, signed the Financing Agreement over the last few days. The primary goal and the aim of this project is the continued implementation of the project “Improving the competitiveness of the economy in Montenegro”.
“Three directorates of the Ministry of Economy, including the Directorate for Investment and Development of Small and Medium Enterprises and Management of European Union’s Funds, the Directorate for Development and the Directorate for the National Brand and Consumer Protection, have gathered financial support in the amount of 70.000 EUR, while the overall budget for the realization of the project, with the contribution of the UNDP, will be as high as 120.000 EUR," said Babic.
This project’s goal is to strengthen the sector of micro, small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs, to improve cooperation with local self-government units and to develop business infrastructure, as well as to improve the competitiveness of the state and its better visibility and recognition in the foreign market.
“The results achieved by the implementation of this project in the past years tell us that we are on the right track when it comes to cooperation with the economic sector and local self-government units. I would definitely point out the Business Caravan project, which, by means of realization, enabled us to increase the transparency of the state apparatus, direct communication with the business sector, and contributed to the presentation of all activities carried out within the project to the target groups," said Babic, while reminding that within the 9 programs, the technical support for business development was funded at 1.8 million EUR by the Ministry of Economy for 2018.
The United Nations Development Program Resident Representative to Montenegro, Fiona McCluney, said that she is delighted that the previous activities have proved to be useful for improving the overall business climate in the country, while at the same time attracting investors and creating new employment opportunities.
“This is why we are pleased with the UNDP that the activities on this project will continue to be implemented in 2018, with some new initiatives, such as those related to the promotion of the national brand, which I am sure will be as equally successful and efficient as other activities implemented in previous years," McCluney said.
The project “Improving the competitiveness of the economy in Montenegro” has been implemented continuously from 2014 and it involves the implementation of the activities related to supporting development and capacity building of micro, small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs, technical support to further cluster development, support to the process of strategic planning for the development of local self-government units and the realization of the Business Caravan and the national brand.
