Cooperation with WB governments and chambers of commerce can lead to greater competitiveness on EU market

Minister of Finance and Social Welfare Milojko Spajić and Minister of Economic Development Jakov Milatović held a meeting today with representatives of the Managing Board of the Western Balkans 6 Chamber Investment Forum Vlastimir Golubović, Mihailo Vesović, Ahmet Egrlić, Marko Mandić, Nenad Đorđević, Nihad Bajramović and Balša Ćulafić.

"The Government of Montenegro is committed to improving cooperation with the private sector related to the creation of trade policy, identification of economic priorities and understanding of its commercial interests in the process of formulating and implementing reforms. It is very important that we, as representatives of the Government, understand how Montenegro and the Montenegrin market are perceived by businesspeople from the region. We are open to all proposals and suggestions, because we are aware of how important economic and trade cooperation with the region is," said Minister Spajić.

"I strongly support the idea of economic integration of our region, which I wrote about in my book" The Western Balkans Regional Economic Area: From Economic Cooperation to Economic Integration". The Ministry of Economic Development is in charge of implementing trade policy, and thus monitoring CEFTA 2006 and the trade part of the Common Regional Market Action Plan 2021-2024, regarding the free movement of goods and services. We want our economy, together with the economies of the region, to achieve maximum benefits through the implementation of activities that this Action Plan envisages, and you have a true partner and promoter in us," said Minister Milatović.

The Western Balkans 6 Chamber Investment Forum (WB6 CIF) is a joint initiative of chambers of commerce and industry from Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia and Serbia, that established a platform of cooperation in 2017 with the aim to provide a joint voice to the business community in the region and to facilitate inter-business contacts and promote the region as one investment destination. WB6 CIF represents around 350,000 companies, mostly small and medium-sized enterprises in its mission to open new opportunities for stronger networking of business communities within the region by removing the remaining obstacles to the development of the regional economic cooperation and improving business and investment climate in the markets of the WB region.

"It is unquestionable that the countries and chambers of commerce of the Western Balkans are on a path that has no alternative - the path of integration into the European Union. That is why we want to improve mutual cooperation, accelerate integration processes and remove all barriers that make us uncompetitive in relation to the EU," said President of the Chamber of Economy of Montenegro Vlastimir Golubović.

He emphasised the very important role of governments in removing barriers to the economy, and stressed the need for countries to harmonise quality certificates, laboratory and phytosanitary findings.

"The Chamber Investment Forum is the response of our economies to the globalization of the economy. Our countries and our markets are small, which is why we need to create a single market and a single investment space. The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that economies and government representatives must work closely together to achieve the best results. The CIF Managing Board has made a decision to establish a representative office in Podgorica, in addition to the one that exists in Trieste," said Director of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce Mihailo Vesović.

The representatives of the Chamber of Investment Forum presented the work of this operational body, which, through the promotion of this region as a unique investment destination, advocates for free movement of goods and services to make them more competitive in the global market. The interlocutors agreed that it is necessary to find a solution that will simplify business for businesspeople from the Western Balkans region, facilitate entry into the common market and accelerate the economic integration of this region into the European Union.