Ankara: Montenegro, Turkey sign package of agreements – modalities for strengthening economic cooperation agreed

Ankara, Turkey (17 November 2017) -- Deputy Prime Ministers of Montenegro and the Republic of Turkey Milutin Simović and Recep Akdağ signed a package of agreements and thus achieved concrete results in the field of deepening and improving the economic cooperation of the two countries, while defining clear further goals – a threefold increase in the volume of commodity exchange and the animation of new Turkish companies for investment in Montenegro.

Agreements on cooperation in the fields of Forestry, Agriculture and Military Industry, as well as Protocol from a session that defines the directions for further action were signed at the fourth session of the Mixed Commission for Economic Cooperation between the Government of Montenegro and the Government of the Republic of Turkey. Montenegro and Turkey have agreed that it is necessary to start negotiations on changing the free trade agreement between the two countries as soon as possible.

"The message we send to businessmen from this meeting is that we take care of them, we create business opportunities, we introduce practices and standards that will enable them to participate in fair competition conditions in a market game and we expand the opportunities for placing their products," DPM Simović said.

He encouraged the already expressed interest of Turkish companies to invest in the sectors of energy, agro-industry, metal processing, textile and wood industry and healthcare in Montenegro, and, bearing in mind development projects in key areas and investment environment, he urged Turkish companies to invest more significantly in Montenegro.

In the closing speech, Deputy Prime Minister of Montenegro congratulated the Government of the Republic of Turkey on the excellent organisation of the fourth session of the Mixed Commission, expressing the conviction that it would result in concrete forms of cooperation.

In addition to the Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Montenegro and the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Milutin Simović as Co-Chair, Minister of Transport and Maritime Affairs Osman Nurković, Minister of Health Kenan Hrapović, Minister of Education Damir Sehović and Adviser on Foreign Investments to the Prime Minister Vladimir Beratović attended the meeting as part of the Montenegrin delegation.