DPM Lazović in Bled: Time to gather around dynamic economic development to create new jobs

Bled, Slovenia (5 September 2016) - “Digital transformation is one of the preconditions for economic development, but also for competitiveness. Modern technologies are the growth drivers in today’s highly globalised society, and our countries can not and must not be an exception. It is time to overcome divisions and to gather around the dynamic economic development to create new jobs, but above all to create greater opportunities for young people”, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Information Society and Telecommunications Vujica Lazović said at Ministerial meeting “Digital transformation in the region of Western Balkans”, which was held today in Bled.

Ministers in charge of telecommunications and public administration from the Western Balkans, Croatia and Slovenia, who attended the ministerial meeting, organised as a part of the Bled Strategic Forum, discussed the basis for digital transformation of society and the possibilities of using digitalisation to meet the needs of regional economic cooperation and development.

“The challenge for the near future is that Montenegro is highly developed information society with as many ICT professionals. In which tje level of information technology will be at the level of the EU Member States. This is primarily achieved if we achieve the objectives of the Digital Agenda for Europe, which is the first of seven key initiatives planned by the programme of “Europe 2020” Strategy. The Government of Montenegro is committed to developing the information society with a clear vision of information and communication technologies progress, aware that new technologies provide a powerful economic development”, Mr Lazović said.

“We are guided by a clear vision: Montenegro – a digital society. And here we are at the very beginning in terms of the level of Internet and technologies use by businesses, and exactly increasing the level of utilisation is our biggest task in the field of digital economy. Within their responsibility, businesses must recognise these benefits, and ours is to provide that to them through education, as well as through the creation of a favourable development environment. In the digital economy, there is virtually nothing that is only local and limited, and I think that our real development is yet to come, once the businesses recognise that themselves”, Mr Lazovic concluded.

In the margins of the meeting on digital transformation in the Western Balkans, Deputy Prime Minister Lazović had bilateral meetings with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Administration of the Republic of Slovenia, Boris Koprivnikar, and also Minister of Public Administration of the Republic of Kosovo, Mahir Yağcilar, during which they exchanged experiences on the digitalisation and challenges for building the quality region connectivity.