Montenegrin-Turkish Business Forum

On 12 December 2009, the Chamber of Economy of Montenegro organized the Business meeting in Podgorica, which gathered around 300 Montenegrin and Turkish businessmen. The Presidents of the two states Mr. Filip Vujanovic and Mr. Abdullah Gul participated in the work of the Forum.
This Montenegrin-Turkish Business Forum is considered as the biggest economic gathering in the history of Montenegro. In the opening address at the business forum, Mr. Mijuskovic, President of PKCG, expressed his satisfaction with the interest of businessmen of the two countries in cooperation and stressed that the meetings of this kind are an opportunity to exchange experiences and make extra effort, through economic contacts and business arrangements, to help our economies getting out of the crisis as soon as possible and in the least painful manner.
The Economic Cooperation Agreement and the Agreement on International Road Transport of Passengers and Goods, which were signed by the Ministers of the Governments of Montenegro and Turkey in Cetinje, continued Mr. Mijuskovic, will further contribute to strengthening economic relations between our countries. The need to strengthen these ties is of importance even for the common European future. Jointly we have launched a series of initiatives to strengthen regional integration and position the region towards the European integration, reminded Mr. Mijusovic, and invited representatives of business associations from the Republic of Turkey, in business operations with the economy of Montenegro to count on the assistance of the Chamber of Economy of Montenegro in terms of provision of information, connecting with the economic entities, as well as other kind of support.
This even more, said Mr. Mijuskovic, due to the fact that the economic exchange between our two countries deserves a much higher trade level than achieved, and we think that in this field we can and have to do and achieve a lot more. This is an excellent opportunity for a new beginning.
The Turkish investors have a lot of opportunities to invest in the Montenegrin market, while the airport in Berane and the free-trade zone in Bar could be the first on this list, said the Montenegrin President Mr. Filip Vujanovic.
A large number of Turkish investors could invest the money into reconstruction of the Berane based airport, since the north of Montenegro is very attractive, both for holidays and investments, said the President Vujanovic. He believes that the favorable position of the Port of Bar offers possibilities for a wide scope of action, and that the Business Forum is a good opportunity to improve cooperation between Montenegro and Turkey. He added that the lack of information and poor transport infrastructure are some of the reasons for the insufficient economic cooperation between the two states. Turkey hasn’t been informed about the conditions for business operating and the quality of the Montenegrin companies. They are not familiar with the fact that on the Montenegrin market there are currently 4.5 thousand foreign companies from even, 64 countries, said Mr. Vujanovic and reminded that the number of investments in this year was increased, stating that this trend could continue into the next year as well.
The Turkish President Mr. Abdullah Gul said that Montenegro, although a small country, has a good geographical position, which enables the development of tourism. The liberalized market, visa-free regime and the way to the European Union (EU) and NATO should create conditions for a beautiful future in Montenegro.
The representative of the Turkish Ministry of Economy, Mr. Zafer Caglayan believes that the cooperation between Montenegro and Turkey should first be developed in the sectors of construction, tourism and shipbuilding. I’m convinced that the Turkish constructors will set as a goal investing in Montenegro, since it is very important to do business together with the Montenegrin entrepreneurs in the world market, said Mr. Caglayan. He reminded that Turkey is the fifth country in the world in the field of shipbuilding, and after China the leading one in civil engineering.Turkey and Montenegro except for mutual cooperation must jointly invest in third countries, said Mr. Caglayan.
The Montenegrin Minister of Economy Mr. Branko Vujovic said that in times of crisis, we have the most difficult situation in the aluminum and steel industry, but we are trying to compensate these drawbacks by revenue from tourism and foreign investments. Montenegro bears the economic crisis pretty well, which confirms that the Montenegrin economy is stable, without major layoffs of workers, with stable prices and is one of the few in time of crisis to have succeeded to increase the level of foreign investments, said Minister Vujovic.