At the AP Vojvodina – Montenegro Business Forum, organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Vojvodina (CCIV) and the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro (CCMNE), on Wednesday, 16th May 2018, there was a total of nearly one hundred Montenegrin and Vojvodina participating business people, who held 50 bilateral meetings after the plenary session.

The host of the gathering, the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Vojvodina, Mr. Boško Vučurević, welcomed the participants and pointed out that the CCIV had achieved a very successful cooperation with the CCMNE in the previous period, and that the Forum was one in a series of joint activities.

„It is extremely important to work on the development of inter-regional relations since such activities develop our business and economy even further. By organizing this Business Forum, we believe that we will intensify the relations between our chambers and strengthen the connections between our business people,“ said Vučurević.

The President of the CCMNE, Vlastimir Golubić, pointed out that the Business Forum, as well as the participation of the Montenegrin business and economic delegation at the International Agricultural Fair, represented another initiative for the improvement of the economic cooperation between Montenegro and AP Vojvodina, i.e. an input for a stronger economic progress of the region.

„For the third time in a year, we are organizing a business forum since we have both the desire and the need to raise the already good cooperation between Montenegro and Vojvodina to a new, quality level,“ said Golubović, and expressed his gratitude to the Provincial Government and the Government of Montenegro for their support.

Addressing the participating business people, the President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (SCC), Marko Čadež, emphasized the importance of the Business Forum, where innovations in the field of agriculture and the ICT sector were also presented. He added that one of the main activities of the Forum was also a colloquy with the representatives of the Port of Bar and AD „Montecargo Podgorica“ on merging with large exporters, primarily exporters of agricultural products.

„Solving this issue will directly facilitate the merchandise trade on both sides and both ways. Digitization of our industry and industry in general as well as logistics are two crucial things,“ said Čadež.

The deputy Prime Minister of the Provincial Government, Mr. Djordje Milićević, said that stable relations between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Montenegro are an adequate framework for the development of mutual cooperation in all the areas of social life, including economic cooperation, which is, as he said, of crucial importance. He added that our economies are complementary which, in his words, had been confirmed by the current economic cooperation. Mr. Milićević pointed out that the total merchandise trade between Serbia and Montenegro over the past year had exceeded € 774 million, which is 9.5 % more than a year earlier. More than a fifth of this trade, or more precisely 22.5 %, was realized between Vojvodina and Montenegro, amounting to €174 million producing a growth of
9.1 %.

„I believe that this positive trend will not only continue, but also intensify and the Provincial Government will, within its competencies, continue to offer maximum support,“ said Milićević in his address to the business people.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Montenegro, Milutin Simović MSc, was one of the participants as well. He supported further development of the already very good relations between the CCMNE and the SCC as well as the CCIV and invited all sides for further successful cooperation.

„Such good inter-chamber and economic relations are certainly the result of very good political and overall bilateral relations between Serbia and Montenegro,“ concluded Simović.

After the plenary session, the presentations of the BioSens Institute, Vojvodina ICT Cluster and the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro were held.