USA and Montenegro are friends and allies

The United States of America and Montenegro are not only friends, but also allies, and digital transformation and new technologies will provide great opportunities for the country's progress, while numerous programmes will create good chances for young people to stay in Montenegro.

It is a message from Washington where Minister of Public Administration, Digital Society and Media Tamara Srzentić met with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gabriel Escobar to discuss Montenegro's future and how to make it more stable and prosperous on the path of Euro-Atlantic integration.

We know that digital transformation and public administration reform provide a handful of new opportunities for the progress of the entire country, so we in the Government have set digital transformation and public administration reform high on the list of priorities. Escobar and I share the view that the introduction of new once-only digital services and agile practices, big data, interoperability, as well as strengthening leadership and digital skills, create room for improvement, which can help us make Montenegro more competitive in the region and the EU, Srzentić said.

Escobar supported the initiatives presented by Minister Srzentić, aimed at strengthening leadership and digital skills, increasing the availability and transparency of public administration services, introducing new digital services and strengthening the ICT sector in Montenegro through cooperation with leading IT companies in America and beyond.

I emphasise the importance of strengthening economic cooperation between Montenegro and the United States, as well as countries in the region, especially the importance of joint work of working groups within the Economic Dialogue, which opens space to strive for new economic, trade, investment and commercial opportunities, said Escobar.

Srzentić said that Montenegro and its Government have support to implement all reform processes, especially in efforts to strengthen the business environment, media freedoms and the fight against corruption, and it was recognised that young and progressive leaders give new strength.

The United States gives special support to our efforts to strengthen media freedoms, so I talked with Escobar about the protection of journalists, criminal policy, rise in hate speech and misogyny, and we concluded that the United States can be a partner in creating policies and strategies that will reduce all forms of violence, with a special emphasis on gender-based violence, Srzentić said.

She pointed out that people from Montenegro are successful everywhere in the world, but that the task is to make young people stay in our country and make the country more successful, "so we in the Government of Montenegro, through numerous programmes, in cooperation with the US and other partners, will create development opportunities in order to achieve that".