Minister Damjanović opens the “Competitiveness and Innovation” panel

Minister of Science Dr. Sanja Damjanović opened today’s panel entitled “Competitiveness and Innovation” within the second day of the Economic Conference – Montenegro 2017, organized by the Chamber of Economy in cooperation with the Ministry of Science of Montenegro. In addition to the Minister, the participants of the panel were also the Minister of Economy Dragica Sekulić and diaspora scientists – Velimir Radmilović, Dušan Petranović and Adisa Lehmann.

Since one of the topics of this year’s conference is the link between economy and science, the participants of the panel attempted to define the challenges of Montenegro on the path to competitiveness and innovation, measures to strengthen scientific capacities through research, as well as to ensure synergy between science and the economy. Also, issues have been raised such as what are the benefits of investing in research, what a country can do to encourage research in enterprises, and how internationalization can contribute to improving competitiveness.

Minister Damjanović pointed out that numerous econometric models showed that a 1% increase in expenditures on research and development in the GDP resulted in GDP growth by 2.2%, which was confirmed in 28 EU countries in the period from 2002 to 2012. In addition, companies investing in research increase their sales, and investment return rates are 10-15 percent, sometimes even higher. As the Minister pointed out, the task of the state is to involve the stakeholders, support the exercise of research in enterprises and provide supportive conditions, such as tax incentives to start-up companies.

In a further address, Minister Damjanović reflected on the Initiative for the Establishment of an International Institute for Sustainable Technology in South East Europe, which would be the region’s response to finding a model of successful cooperation between science and economy. The Institute would be a kind of scientific research nucleus that would initiate the opening of new highly qualified jobs. According to her, a world-class-level research channel would be opened in one area, with the possibility of transferring knowledge to many other technological domains, around which the market for a number of other providers of products and services would be created. Also, a market for complementary technologies would be created, such as, for example, the production of energy from alternative sources.

The topics discussed at the panel included, inter alia, the issue of additional promotion of STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). The participants agreed that it was necessary to strengthen the education system and promote participation in projects even during the studies, in order to acquire knowledge and skills necessary in the new global sophisticated business system.

In order to enhance competitiveness, panelists pointed to the need to turn to internationalization and respond to global market demands, as well as to turn to strategic international connectivity through EU programmes, large international institutions, and our people in the diaspora, all with a view to creating an environment that attracted foreign investments. In that sense, Minister Damjanović called on our diaspora scientists to get actively involved and to indicate the ways in which the effectiveness of the measures taken by the state could be increased, proposing concrete ventures based on their experiences.

As part of the conference, today’s programme also included the panel “Geopolitical framework – prerequisites for the further development of the Region and its integration into the EU”, attended by Milo Đukanović, former Montenegrin President and Prime Minister, Milan Kučan, former President of the Republic of Slovenia and Budimir Lončar, a former diplomat and politician. The moderator was Boro Krivokapić, a journalist and publicist.

Regional Economic Conference – Montenegro 2017 was organized by the Chamber of Economy of Montenegro in cooperation with the Ministry of Science. This year’s two-day gathering was attended by about 500 representatives of governments, business community, scientific and professional public from the region of Southeast Europe and beyond.