The French embassy in Podgorica and the Economic service of the French Embassy based in Belgrade organized an economic forum on business opportunities in Montenegro on 15 May 2017.

This forum gathered more than fifty participants, representatives of French companies based in Montenegro, Serbia or France, Montenegrin companies invited by the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro and willing to establish business relations with their French counterparts.

Ambassador Christine Toudic opened the forum, together with Mr Stanko Zlokovic, Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro. In particular, she stressed the need to develop economic relations between France and Montenegro and also officially announced to the attendees the project to open a French school in Podgorica in the autumn of 2018 which will strengthen the French economic presence in the country.

The Montenegrin authorities were represented by Ms Iva Vukovic, Director of Economic Policy and Development in the Ministry of Finance of Montenegro, and Mr Boris Rebic, Head of the Investment Department of the Ministry of the Economy who provided an updated overview of Montenegro's macroeconomic data, investment opportunities and ongoing projects. Mr. Miroslav Hirsl, CEO of Societe Generale in Montenegro and Marija Sukovic, Executive Director of the Foreign Investors Council, also participated and provided a balanced and instructive picture of the business climate, recent developments and expected progress.

At the end of these speeches the project to set up a Franco-Montenegrin business club was also mentioned, which was very favorably received by the attendees and in particular by the Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce who immediately announced its support for the project. A working group was set up to make concrete and rapid progress on this project.