Before we officially pack up and take off to our well-deserved holidays, let’s take a final look at the year behind us!

This has been an interesting period for Montenegro and its business sector. 2015 has brought new advocacy initiatives, the invitation to join NATO, as well as new challenges for doing business. AmCham Montenegro has been very active in conducting its strategic plan through organizing numerous activities and meetings with policy – makers. Likewise, we have done our best to strengthen the ties within the business community, by providing our members with opportunities to network and exchange ideas.

Let’s break down what were the main highlights of 2015!

ADVOCACY

Openly with Prime Minister, March 2015

• AmCham published the 2014 Business Climate Report. The key findings of this report were presented and discussed with the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Mr. Milo Đukanović, at the “Openly with Prime Minister“ conference in March 2015.
• Our advocacy activities’ focus was mainly placed on the Labor Law, Law on Foreigners, Law on Spatial Planning and Construction, Law on VAT, Law on Enterprises, as well as the pharmaceutical policy.
• We have also analyzed the telecommunications industry and organized an all-day conference to discuss its key challenges with the policy-makers in May 2015.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

AmCham Internship Programme Certificate Reception Ceremony, September 2015

• We awarded the fifth generation of AmCham Internship Program. We are especially proud to announce that the Program will be upgraded next year by providing internship positions for persons with disabilities. AmCham supports equal employment opportunities and will promote this cause within our membership.
• Giving back to community is one of our founding principles, therefore, we have organized a donation of IT and office equipment to northern municipalities Kolašin and Mojkovac, in partnership with the U.S. Embassy Podgorica and support of our members: Adriatic Marinas – Porto Montenegro, Telenor, S&T Crna Gora and Čelebić. In this way, AmCham has celebrated the Thanksgiving season, sharing a little bit of the American spirit and tradition with our community.

EDUCATION

ME-net Digital Marketing Workshop, October 2015

We are focused on providing our members with the most recent trends, knowledge and skills in order to stimulate business development. Hence, we organized a number of workshops to achieve this goal:

• Delegation and Feedback workshop, in cooperation with Ernst and Young
• Family Businesses – the Pillar of Economic Development, a lecture by Mr. Dragan Močević
• Digital Marketing workshop, in cooperation with ME-net
• Content Marketing, a lecture by Mr. Borislav Miljanović, CEO and Founder of Represent System

NETWORKING

We have organized 15 events this year, providing valuable networking possibilities for our members.

Business Afterhours Reception, sponsored by Telemont, April 2015

Contribution of Digital Economy to Society Development conference, June 2015

AmCham Community Party, July 2015

Business Luncheon with the Minister of Sustainable Development and Tourism, November 2015

AmCham Holiday Party, December 2015

So, to conclude, we have been very busy this year! But all of this would not be possible without the support from our membership, who actively participates in our endeavors to create a better business environment in Montenegro.

We wish you a great holiday season and a prosperous 2016!