Chinese top officials voice interest in developing Montenegro's Port of Bar, PM Đukanović notes following China-CEE summit in Suzhou

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Beijing, China (26 November 2015) -- Prime Minister of Montenegro Milo Đukanović participated in the 4th Summit of Heads of Government of China and Central and Eastern Europe Countries, within the framework of the 16 + 1 cooperation mechanism, which was held on 24-25 November in Suzhou, China.

During his stay in China, the Prime Minister met with his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang in Beijing. He also took part in a meeting between President of China Xi Jinping and heads of government of CEE countries.

The meeting with Prime Minister Keqiang in particular affirmed the implementation of the Bar-Boljare highway's project and underlined the possibility of further cooperation in the field of infrastructure, not only through the construction of the Adriatic-Ionian highway, which may represent a good mechanism for linking the capacities of the Berlin Process for Western Balkan countries to the 16 + 1 initiative launched by China, but also through the development of the Port of Bar, PM Đukanović told the press. 

“Chinese “One belt, one route” project also includes a sub-project related to seaports. At yesterday’s summit, China voiced interest in establishing cooperation with the ports on the Adriatic, Baltic and Black Sea. We referred to the opportunities of upgrading and developing the Port of Bar and carrying out an industrial zone sub-project, which would be of great benefit to further industrial and technological development of Montenegro,” he explained. 

PM Đukanović added that, during his stay in China, he met with representatives of the Chinese companies interested in boosting cooperation in energy and tourism.

“I encountered many large Chinese companies interested in using our hydro and thermal potential. We also talked about improving cooperation in the field of tourism. In that regard, Montenegro is making efforts towards simplifying procedures to facilitate the arrival of Chinese tourists to Montenegro and is working together with others in the region and Europe to arrange joint tourism packages for the Chinese tourists, who would visit our region and Montenegro within their ten-day or two-week stay in Europe,” Prime Minister Đukanović underlined.