Podgorica, July 5 – Improving the business environment through the “Rule of Dialogue” program is a common interest of the American Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Economic Development and Tourism, is the message of the representatives of those institutions after signing the Memorandum of Cooperation. The memorandum was signed by the Minister of Economic Development and Tourism, Goran Đurović, and the President of the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce, Svetlana Vuksanović.

By signing the Memorandum on Cooperation, we want to raise the level of mutual understanding between the private and public sectors, because we believe that cooperation is key to a stronger business environment, said Vuksanović.

“With the memorandum on cooperation, we achieve the goal we set through the program “Rule of Dialogue”, to create and improve a business environment based on the Rule of Law and equal opportunities through timely dialogue. There are many areas in which the American Chamber of Commerce, together with its members, can offer expert knowledge. This expertise can be of great use for the creation of policies and measures aimed at supporting the development of companies and their transformation with a special focus on innovation, new production and business technologies. We want to help the development of information and communication technologies, especially through support for the further improvement of ICT industry products and services,” said Vuksanović.

As Vuksanović added, a predictable and transparent business environment is a condition for the arrival of investors from the United States of America and the European Union.

“It is important that in this process dialogue is the backbone of everything. From combating the shadow economy to human capital development and digital transformation, these are all fields in which we must work. We are sure that the more intensive cooperation between the Committees of the American Chamber of Commerce and representatives of ministries and administrative bodies will show concrete results already in the first months and that, through dialogue, we will find the best solutions for eliminating barriers in business,” said Vuksanović.

Minister of Economic Development and Tourism Goran Đurović said that by signing the Memorandum, the Ministry wants to send a message that it is open to dialogue with the private sector, more intensive cooperation, removal of administrative barriers and improvement of the business environment.

“Given that foreign direct investments represent a significant factor in the state’s gross domestic product, retaining existing and attracting new renowned investors from the USA and Western European countries is a priority for our Government. Only in the first four months of this year, FDI in Montenegro amounted to more than 306 million euros, which is a growth of 30 percent compared to the pre-crisis year 2019, and 23 percent compared to last year. This is a signal that the state should continue to develop a transparent and predictable business environment, which is what we intend to do through the “Rule of Dialogue” program in cooperation with AmCham,” said Đurović.

The minister emphasized that he wants to include the business community in the procedures for drafting laws and other regulations and to hear their voice when creating policies that have an impact on the business environment.

“Joint committees for combating the gray economy and digital transformation are especially important to us, topics that are also perceived at the level of state institutions as challenges to be solved in the coming period. In addition to these areas, the focus of joint efforts will be the creation of conditions for balanced growth and development of the Montenegrin economy, improvement of economic relations with foreign countries, development of information and communication technologies and strengthening of the innovation sector,” said Đurović.

The signed Memorandum with the Ministry of Economic Development is a continuation of the cooperation between the Government of Montenegro and the American Chamber of Commerce that began on June 6 at the “Open with the Prime Minister” event, when the umbrella Memorandum on Cooperation on the “Rule of Dialogue” program was signed. Last week, the American Chamber of Commerce signed the first in a series of Memorandums of Cooperation with the Ministry of Health, and will do so with other relevant ministries in the coming period.