The Minister of Economic Development and Tourism, Goran Đurović, and the Director General for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and Small and Medium-Sized Entrepreneurship in the European Commission, Kerstin Jorna, signed the Agreement for the participation of Montenegro in the Single Market Program – Single Market Program 2021-2027.
The Single Market Program is a program for the internal market, the competitiveness of enterprises, including small and medium-sized enterprises, the field of plants, animals, food and animal feed and European statistics. This Program with a budget of EUR 4.2 billion aims to strengthen the single market by focusing on the economic recovery of each industrial ecosystem from the COVID-19 pandemic, MERT announced.
Minister Đurović recalled the previous period of successful cooperation with the European Commission, which, he said, undoubtedly showed how determined Montenegro is in its intention to become a credible part of the European family, at the same time using most of the available EU instruments to develop its capacities and potential.
Montenegro remains committed to regional cooperation and will play an active role in building a more stable and safer region through participation in various initiatives and programs. I am especially proud that Montenegro is the first in the region to sign the Agreement and access this important program – said Đurović.
Thanks to its cross-border nature, the Program will be of mutual benefit both for the EU and for small and medium-sized enterprises in Montenegro by strengthening their cooperation and thus stimulating a more dynamic and international business environment, the press release points out.
The importance of inclusion in the EU Single Market Program is contained in the negotiation chapter 20 Entrepreneurship and industrial policy, given that the principles and instruments of the policy, which are at the EU level, were especially emphasized, to a significant extent, implemented first through the CIP and COSME program, in which companies from the EU and Montenegro cooperated in several projects financed by the EU.
COSME has been fertile ground for growth and realization of its international ambitions, not only thanks to the well-known Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) and Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs (EYE), but also thanks to the activities in the cluster areas, tourism and social economy, adoption of technology.
Now the intention is to continue supporting companies from the EU and Montenegro to advance internationally through the Program and its specific programs through a combination of opportunities to find partners, advice and the establishment of new reliable business partnerships. This contributes to the better realization of the goals established by existing strategic documents for the development of industry, small and medium-sized enterprises and other relevant strategies and programs, MERT concludes in a statement.
