Minister Damjanović in Brussels: Commissioner Moedas confirms his visit to Montenegro regarding preparatory phase of SEEIST project

Brussels, Belgium (8 February 2019) -- Minister of Science Sanja Damjanović paid an official visit to Brussels, where she met with Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Carlos Moedas.

Minister Damjanović presented the current status of activities on the regional project "Establishment of the South East European International Institute for Sustainable Technologies – SEEIIST", pointing to preparatory activities for the start of the next phase of the project – the phase of the development of a detailed Design Study, which the European Commission - Directorate General for Research and innovation (DG RTD) will support with EUR one million. The Minister invited Commissioner Moedas to attend the Kick-off meeting marking the beginning of the Design Study phase, which will be held in Montenegro in mid-2019. Damjanović also presented the progress in the process of developing the Smart Specialisation Strategy, stressing Montenegro's full commitment to this important task, which is implemented with the support of the Directorate General of the Joint Research Center (JRC). In the end, she pointed to the importance of the European Commission's Policy Support Facility (PSF), through which Montenegro is working to improve the national innovative ecosystem, with a special focus on innovative start-ups.

Commissioner Moedas thanked the Minister for the detailed information on the progress of the preparatory phase of the SEEIIST project. He praised Montenegro's progress in the process of preparing the Smart Specialisation Strategy, noting in particular that Montenegro, in a very short time, managed to prepare a quality strategic document, thus gaining the conditions to become the first associated country to adopt this strategy. The Commissioner expressed satisfaction that Montenegro has made the best use of the PSF instrument for the creation of a national framework for creating a better environment for innovative activities in the country.