DPM Simović meets with Dutch Ambassador Van den Dool

Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policy and Financial System and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Milutin Simović met with Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands H.E. Mr. Henk van den Dool and his associates.

Expressing his satisfaction with the cooperation with the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the part of the EU integration of Montenegro, as well as the support for Montenegro's membership in the NATO, DPM Simović emphasised that this is a good opportunity to look at models for improvement and more concrete future cooperation between the two countries. In addition, Deputy Prime Minister Simović highlighted the progress of the overall economy of Montenegro and introduced the interlocutors with the official results of the growth rate of gross domestic product of 4.5% in the first quarter of 2018. As he emphasized, the Government will continue with responsible and committed work in order to exceed the international GDP growth projections of Montenegro by the end of 2018.

It has been estimated that in the past period projects of Montenegro and the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the field of agriculture have produced a positive effect on the economy, as well as that they have increased the mutual exchange between the two countries.

DPM Simović also informed the interlocutors about the process and the current status of the negotiation process for Chapter 11 - Agriculture and Rural Development, 12 - Food Safety, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Policy and 13 - Fisheries, adding that Montenegro is actively working to meet the specified closing benchmarks negotiations in these areas. He particularly emphasised the importance of the mentioned negotiations taking into account the process of preparation of the new Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union for the period 2021-2027.

Ambassador Van den Dool thanked Deputy Prime Minister Simović for reception and presentation on the current status of the agriculture sector in Montenegro. He clearly pointed out that the Kingdom of the Netherlands is very interested in concrete projects and defined models of cooperation to assist Montenegro in the agricultural sector, since it is actively involved in other areas and negotiation processes in Montenegro.

Ambassador Van den Dool supported the proposal of DPM Simović to define further cooperation in two ways: through encouraging cooperation between economic entities in Montenegro and the Kingdom of the Netherlands (encouraging trade, technology and knowledge exchange), as well as through consideration of interinstitutional cooperation in fulfillment of the criteria of Montenegro in the process of closing the negotiations in negotiation chapters 11, 12 and 13, as well as in defining the method of planning the study visit of Montenegrin agricultural producers to the Netherlands, where the extremely important experiences of the Dutch farmers in respecting the EU standards, technologies and practice will be exchanged in direct contact.

DPM Simović emphasised that Montenegro responsibly approaches to the fulfillment of all EC requirements and that it pays special attention to quality in relation to deadlines. Therefore, he expressed the expectation that the EC will evaluate the individual performance of each candidate country in the process of EU integration. Simović also assessed that it is good for the region to have a country that, through its example of EU integration process, can help other countries of the region to speed up their steps on this important road.

Agricultural Councellor of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for Austria, Hungary, Serbia and Montenegro Mr. Kits Nieuwenkamp expressed his readiness to provide all available assistance to Montenegro in the area of the Common Agricultural Policy and once again stressed that the door of this country is always open to any kind of cooperation with Montenegro.