Minister Sekulić participates at Digital Summit in Skopje: With new digital solutions to better living and working conditions

Skopje, Macedonia (18 April 2018) -- In addition to creating a favorable investment environment, strategic goals of the Government of Montenegro are creating conditions for the dynamic development of new generation networks and the widespread application of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the work of public administration, economic activities and the society as a whole, Minister of Economy Dragica Sekulić said.

Minister Sekulić participated in the panel of six Prime Minister of the Western Balkans entitled "Integrating the WB6 to the pan-European Digital Market" organised within the Western Balkans Digital Summit. In addition to Minister Sekulić, the panel was attended by the Prime Ministers of Macedonia and Kosovo, Zoran Zaev and Ramush Haradinaj, Deputy Prime Minister of Albania Senida Mesi, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Denis Zvizdić, and the moderator of the panel was Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) Goran Svilanović.

"Investments in networks and services of new generation in Montenegro, which primarily provide fast Internet access through fixed and wireless technologies, in the last two years have far exceeded the level of investment in previous years. What is especially pleasing and encouraging is the fact that the dynamic development of the new generation networks and services is planned in the current year," Minister Sekulić noted.

According to Minister Sekulić, the constant investments of the operators, which in previous two years amounted to about EUR 200 million, testify that the electronic communications market is legally and regulatively well-regulated.

"We can conclude that private investors in telecommunications market recognise the readiness of Montenegrin society and the market to accept and use new technologies and to monitor the global trends of digitisation," the Minister said.

She stated that the Study presented in Skopje today, which examines the impact of digital transformation in the Western Balkans, shows that, according to the degree of digitisation, Montenegro is above the average in the region for all important parameters – coverage of high-speed broadband Internet, speed of using high-speed broadband Internet, infrastructure development, mobile penetration, efficient use of spectrum etc.

The panel assessed that the integration of the Western Balkan countries with the pan-European digital market requires a harmonised regulatory environment, the improvement of broadband infrastructure and access to digital goods and services, as well as digital literacy, in order to exploit the potential of digital economy.

The first Western Balkans Digital Summit brought together representatives of governments from the Region and EU Member States participating in the Berlin Process, representatives of the European Commission (EC), the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), as well as representatives of the information industry and companies dealing with information technology, academia and youth – with the goal of achieving concrete results in terms of a digital platform for the exchange of ideas and proposals.