Minister Nurkovic invited Turkish investors to continue investing in the area of traffic in Montenegro

The Minister of Transport and Maritime Affairs Osman Nurkovic stayed in Istanbul yesterday to attend the opening ceremony of the new airport. The opening ceremony was attended by over 50 delegations led by state presidents, governments, ministers and senior officials from around the world. The date of the opening ceremony of the airport, on October 29, 2018, is also the 95th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey.

The airport was solemnly opened by HE. President of the Republic of Turkey, Mr Redžep Tajip Erdogan. On this occasion, he expressed his satisfaction with the successful completion of the construction project for which he is expected to be the largest airport in the world when he reaches his full capacity. He stressed that the opening of this airport in Istanbul is a symbol of the strength of the Republic of Turkey and its success in the past 95 years of existence. The Istanbul airport is built in four phases. After the completion of the first phase, the airport will serve over 90 million passengers annually, and after the completion of all four planned phases, the airport will serve up to 200 million passengers and will seat more than 100 airline flights flying over 350 destinations worldwide. The cost of building this aerodrome is 10 billion and 247 million euros.

In addition to President Erdogan, the Speaker of the Assembly Mr. Binali Jildirim and Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Mehmet Ćahit Turhan spoke at the opening ceremony.

During his stay in Istanbul, Minister Nurkovic took the opportunity to meet bilaterally with his colleague, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Turhan. The ministers expressed their satisfaction with good political relations as well as the good cooperation between the two countries in the field of transport as well as in other areas of economy. They have recognized common areas of interest in enhancing cooperation in the transport sector, and as particularly important they have distinguished cooperation in the field of civil aviation, maritime affairs and combined transport.

The Minister of Transport and Infrastructure g Mehmet Cahit Turhan has been particularly focused on improving combined transport in Montenegro whose port Bar and its good connections with rail and road networks are seen as crucial for connecting the Republic of Turkey with the rest of Europe. He expressed satisfaction and Turkish Airlines maintains 14 flights per week between the two states and hopes that this number will increase. Two ministers also talked about improving co-operation in the field of cruising tourism, and Minister Nurkovic informed on this occasion his colleague about the existing marinas in Montenegro as well as plans for the privatization of the shipyard in Bijela that will deal with service and construction of mega yachts.

Minister Nurkovic presented to his colleague a plan of granting at the airport concession in Montenegro and stressed the interest of a significant number of Turkish airline companies. He took the opportunity to highlight the great interest of Turkish companies and investors in the field of travel infrastructure and investment in tourist capacities in Montenegro. Minister Nurkovic also invited other interested partners to continue investing in the area of traffic and other sectors whose development is necessary to boost the competitiveness of the Montenegrin economy. In order to improve cooperation in all aspects of traffic, the ministers agreed to form a Joint Transport Commission that will deal with issues of importance in all sectors.

Finally, Minister Nurkovic congratulated his colleagues on completing the first phase of the new airport in Istanbul and wished success in the future.

Ministry of Transport and Maritime Affairs