29 October 2018 - The economic conference in Montenegro 2018, titled “Balkan and European Union – a five-year cycle of the Berlin Process”, was held from October 25 to October 26 in Hotel Splendid in Budva. The conference was opened by the President of Montenegro Milo Đukanović, Chancellor of Austria Sebastian Kurz and president of the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro Vlastimir Đukanović. The list of panelists included Finance Ministers of the region, representatives of international financial institutions and investors, presidents of the chambers and associations, as well as representatives of successful companies that do business in the Western Balkans. One of the panellists during the conference was the chairman of the Voli Trade Company’s Board of Directors, Dragan Bokan.
Commenting on the general business environment of the Balkans, its advantages and disadvantages, the chairman of the Voli Trade Company’s Board of Directors, Dragan Bokan said that Montenegro has a stable business environment and that the country is worth spending money, knowledge and energy on. He also added that Montenegro has the most open market in the Balkans.
According to the information provided by the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro, Bokan declared that we’ve all been witnesses of a rapidly changing market and that the business holders must adequately respond to that challenge. He said: “We must adjust to current trends and work hard to improve ourselves. The business environment is not as it used to be 10 years ago. We have to invest in human resources development and systematic running of a business.”
Bokan also emphasized that a problem lies in the fact that the regional companies which are running the business in Montenegro just want to sell goods, without necessary investments in production undertakings: “We have to lobby hard to attract ‘bigwigs’ who would drive Montenegro’s rise to economic growth”.
The Voli Trade Company is ready to run business beyond Montenegro’s borders, Bokan added, but that’s difficult to implement.
