- Government of Montenegro
Ministry of Finance Deputy Prime Minister Igor Luksic for Voice of Ame...
Please note: The page below represents the archived content relating to the previous Government of Montenegro. Some of the information might be inaccurate or outdated.
Archive
Deputy Prime Minister Igor Luksic for Voice of America in New York: Montenegro set to meet MDGs by 2015
Published on: Sep 28, 2010 • 10:08 PM Author: Ivona Mihajlović - administrator
We can say that we have gone a long way in meeting the Millennium Development Goals,” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Igor Luksic told Voice of America in New York, following his speech at the UN Summit on Millennium Development Goals on Monday, 20 September.
“We estimate that in 2015 we will be able to say that we have achieved all the MDGs. So far, we have been successful in reducing child and maternal mortality, as well as preventing the spread of infectious diseases,” Luskic said, adding that further efforts are still needed in terms of advancing educational reform and promoting poverty reduction and environmental protection.
Asked if Montenegro expected to come out of recession by the end of the year, the Deputy Prime Minister said: “There are several parameters that suggest so. We believe we will have a positive growth in the second half of the year and come close to what has been the objective of this year’s economic policy at year’s end, which is full stabilization of the economy and a modest growth. I believe we can reach a 3 percent growth next year.”
Referring to the expected level of foreign direct investment, he underlined that, in recent years, Montenegro was a leader in terms of FDI inflow not only in the region, but also in Europe.
“What we need to do in the coming period is make further effort to diversify investment. Several calls for tenders are underway, which means that our privatization agenda continues. On the other hand, we are making efforts to boost investment in the energy sector and certain investment projects directly related to further advancements in the tourism industry will soon be in place,” the Deputy Prime Minister explained.
“Montenegro is a small economy, but we definitely have resources in several areas and our goal is to try to exploit those resources, in combination with the inflow of foreign capital.”
Commenting on when Montenegro could expect to obtain EU candidate status or open accession talks, Luksic said: “It seems to me that it isn’t that vital if it happens by the end of this or the beginning of next year, but what is very important is for the accession talks to begin as soon as possible and the thing we are going to work on is to tackle the most difficult issues at opening of the talks, in order to prove our commitment to full European integration.”
Mr Luksic's full interview to the Voice of America is available at http://www.voanews.com/serbian/news/Luksic-interview-09-20-103328659.html.
“We estimate that in 2015 we will be able to say that we have achieved all the MDGs. So far, we have been successful in reducing child and maternal mortality, as well as preventing the spread of infectious diseases,” Luskic said, adding that further efforts are still needed in terms of advancing educational reform and promoting poverty reduction and environmental protection.
Asked if Montenegro expected to come out of recession by the end of the year, the Deputy Prime Minister said: “There are several parameters that suggest so. We believe we will have a positive growth in the second half of the year and come close to what has been the objective of this year’s economic policy at year’s end, which is full stabilization of the economy and a modest growth. I believe we can reach a 3 percent growth next year.”
Referring to the expected level of foreign direct investment, he underlined that, in recent years, Montenegro was a leader in terms of FDI inflow not only in the region, but also in Europe.
“What we need to do in the coming period is make further effort to diversify investment. Several calls for tenders are underway, which means that our privatization agenda continues. On the other hand, we are making efforts to boost investment in the energy sector and certain investment projects directly related to further advancements in the tourism industry will soon be in place,” the Deputy Prime Minister explained.
“Montenegro is a small economy, but we definitely have resources in several areas and our goal is to try to exploit those resources, in combination with the inflow of foreign capital.”
Commenting on when Montenegro could expect to obtain EU candidate status or open accession talks, Luksic said: “It seems to me that it isn’t that vital if it happens by the end of this or the beginning of next year, but what is very important is for the accession talks to begin as soon as possible and the thing we are going to work on is to tackle the most difficult issues at opening of the talks, in order to prove our commitment to full European integration.”
Mr Luksic's full interview to the Voice of America is available at http://www.voanews.com/serbian/news/Luksic-interview-09-20-103328659.html.
Related articles:
Is this page useful?