Women entrepreneurship important condition for overall economic growth of Montenegro and achieving gender equality

On the International Day of Women Entrepreneurship a traditional conference “Power of Women” has been held organized by Association of Women Entrepreneurs and Ministry for Human and Minority Rights.

Women entrepreneurship in Montenegro is recognized as one of important conditions for the overall economic growth of Montenegro and full achievement of gender equality. The conference gathered a great number of participants not only from Montenegro but from the region as well. Various opinions and good practices were heard at the conference regarding development of women entrepreneurship, so as the challenges these women face.

Mrs. Biljana Pejović Head of the Department for gender equality spoke spoke at the opening of the conference. She stressed that participation of the women in creating business environment and development is highly important for the further economic  growth of the Montenegrin society.

On the occasion of the International Day of Women Entrepreneurship she said that political participation of women, combating violence against women and economic empowerment of women are three areas of priority regarding gender equality. The same three are in the agenda of the Montenegrin Government in compliance to the obligations and achieving EU standards.

She reminded everyone that Ministry for Human and Minority Rights I co-operation with UNDP and Investment and Development Fund of Montenegro initiated number of favourable credit lines for women entrepreneurs. This way, women who wish to start their own small or medium businesses have the opportunity to become entrepreneurs.

Even if the figures regarding active work population are less concerning both genders, women in Montenegro face one third less possibilities to get a work engagement.

Male population is significantly more present among active work population. As well, there are significant differences in the level and type of economic engagement of women, depending on age, level of education and places they live. Women are in a worse position and it is indicated by the fact that women who are significantly more present in the category of inactive population are increasingly frequent in the grey economy.

At the conference the message was conveyed about the great importance of the cooperation of all relevant actors in this field. An important part of that cooperation is certainly the role of the media. One of the panels was dedicated to the attitude of the media towards women entrepreneurs. In that direction, greater presence was suggested in the media, but it is also desirable that the entrepreneurs themselves are more active regarding their visibility and presence in the media.