In his address at the Summit of Global Leaders during the World Investment Forum in Geneva, the President of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović, told Montenegro’s topmost goal will be to develop an ambience in which foreign investments (FI) and free trade can boost, while the set objectives for sustainable development should be fulfilled accordingly.
“Everything else would be insufficiently responsible towards the existing and future generations,” noted Đukanović.
According to him, the phenomenon of globalization cannot be interpreted in a traditional way, as numerous old paradigms lost their sense.
He said: “Market economy does not divide countries between small and big, but rather successful and unsuccessful ones. Successful economies create conditions for accelerated economic growth and development by establishing strong institutions. Economic development is determined by “the rules of game”. Therefore, the basic globalization challenge is setting up rules for all the international institutions. Opponents of globalization believe benefits from trade and investments are not equal for all. They never were, actually. However, that logic led to closing of certain economies and the introduction of protectionism. That is why we must not indulge in such policies as they can endanger global investment flows.”
He underlined that Montenegro remains strongly committed to preservation of multilateralism, compliance with the rules and strengthening transparency, based on the principles of the World Trade Organization, WTO.
“We’ve proved this through the policy enforcement at the national level. Two years ago, we adopted the Sustainable Development National Strategy by 2030. The economic development represents a multidimensional process, which is changing the structure of every society. It’s not only about changing the GDP, but the wider package of changes.”
President Đukanović emphasized that Montenegro has been developing a transparent system, aimed at attracting foreign investors each year. “There’s a significant number of ‘global players’ among them, who found in Montenegro challenges for their projects, as well as security, stability and clear rules. They, at the same time, have become promoters of Montenegro as a prestigious and high-end investment destination. Our achieved results best point to our commitment to improving conditions for foreign investors.”
The fact Montenegro is an open state and part of global trends has been confirmed by the figures from tourism industry, accounting for over 20% of the state’s GDP. In 2017, Montenegro recorded around 2 million arrivals. This year, other sectors, such as industry and construction sector, have also recorded growth.
“Investors have direct financial incentives for new projects, tax reliefs in less-developed parts of the country, subsidies on employment in business zones and the competition between local self-governments when defining duties and local taxes, aiming to attract new investments. One of the key economic values is openness of our economy. Our political stability, NATO membership, leading position in the EU talks, WTO membership and numerous concluded free trade contracts- which provide access to the market of 800 million users – clearly confirm the political values we adopted and that we have been devotedly attached to,” concluded Đukanović.
