UK-Montenegro Trade and Investment Forum begins in London

London, United Kingdom (26 October 2017) -- UK-Montenegro Trade and Investment Forum started earlier today in London, which brings together representatives of the Government of Montenegro, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and more than 150 UK companies, primarily in the field of financial services, ICT, energy, engineering, infrastructure, construction, agriculture, real estate and consulting services, that are interested in starting a business and investing in Montenegro.

Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policy and Financial System Milutin Simović said that the interest of the UK companies in Montenegro is growing and that this gathering was organised in order to further stimulate companies from the UK to think about Montenegro as their investment and business base in the region of Southeast Europe.

"The latest projections of the World Bank predict the growth of the Montenegrin economy at the rate of 4.2% in 2017. In the second quarter of 2017, we achieved 5.1% GDP growth, which is an additional confirmation of the dynamics of investment activities in Montenegro," said Deputy Prime Minister Simović in his speech at the opening of the forum, putting particularly emphasis on Montenegro's investment potentials in tourism, energy, transport, manufacturing industry, agriculture, fisheries and the ICT sector.

Montenegrin Deputy Prime Minister informed the UK business people that the National Investment Commission of Montenegro has adopted the Single List of Priority Development Infrastructure projects containing 143 projects in energy, transport, environmental protection, etc. Estimated value of the projects from the list, whose implementation is planned for the period 2017-2025, amounts to approximately EUR 5 billion.

Highlighting the latest recognitions from international financial institutions and agencies, such as those from the IMF Executive Board Report, which concluded that the Government of Montenegro has well-managed the economy and that fiscal consolidation measures are well-balanced, DPM Simović noted that the Moody's improved the rating of Montenegro to B1 with a stable outlook, while the Standard & Poor's credit rating agency published a new report changing Montenegro rating to "stable", while preserving the B + / B rating

Ambassador Kemp: I am impressed with Montenegro

Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Montenegro Alison Kemp said in her address at the forum that NATO membership and constant progress in the EU negotiation process are strong evidence that Montenegro is fulfilling obligations in its Euro-Atlantic aspirations.

"Over the past five months of my service as the UK Ambassador, I have been very impressed with Montenegro," said Ambassador Kemp.

She told the UK business people that Montenegro has excellent relations, especially political ones, with all the Western Balkan countries and that it has undertaken concrete activities towards strengthening the rule of law, fighting corruption, and that it fully understands the reform steps that must be taken in the time to come.

The UK Ambassador said this was only the first in a series of eventsof on the Western Balkans  to take place in the United Kingdom and announced the holding of a conference of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and a summit of the leaders of the West Balkan Six.

Ten advantages of Montenegro

John Grogan, MP, an expert on the Balkans, said at the opening of the UK-Montenegro Trade and Investment Forum that he could list at least ten reasons for the UK government and companies to pay attention to Montenegro: it is a NATO member, has a rich history, has developed tourism, experiences significant economic growth, established stable political relations with its neighbours, important conferences are expected on the topic of the Western Balkans, major investments are being realised in Montenegro, the country produces high quality wines, develops sport having in mind it is a country with  a very small population and has large opportunities for investing in the private sector.

MP Grogan also underlined that some actions directed against Montenegro's accession to NATO were disproportionate, but that Montenegro has overcome all the challenges.

"It is something the UK Government and parliament have to deal with," he said.

Minister of Economy Dragica Sekulić presented Montenegro's potentials and investment framework in these areas at the panel discussion titled "Investing in infrastructure and energy". Minister of Sustainable Development and Tourism Pavle Radulović spoke about investments in tourism and key sectors.

Deputy Minister of Finance Bojana Bošković and Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro Stanko Zloković presented the general economic indicators in Montenegro.

PUBLIC RELATIONS SERVICE OF THE GOVERNMENT OF MONTENEGRO