The Annual Assembly of the Montenegrin Foreign Investors’ Council took place on November 19th hosted by Hotel Ramada. The Annual Assembly of the Montenegrin Foreign Investors’ Council was held on November 19th with the presence of most of the member companies.
In line with regular procedure, in the first part of the Assembly President of the Council Mr.Christoph Schoen and Executive Director Mr. Ivan Radulovic presented Council’s activities in the previous period, financial report, membership status and planned activities for upcoming period. The Annual Assembly confirmed establishment of the Insurance Committee and the Regulatory Policy Committee.
Communication with Government and public administration remains important task of the Council. One of the main missions of MFIC is to be constructive and reliable partner to official authorities for the purpose of overcoming problems and obstacles that foreign investors face in order to increase attractiveness and competitiveness of the Montenegrin economy. As a member of the Competitiveness Council and other inter-ministerial working groups MFIC has actively participated in shaping business friendly environment in Montenegro. The next activity of MFIC will be related to preparation of White Book 2019 – collection of members’ suggestions and opinions and their communication to the Government. In 2020 MFIC will also prepare new Guide to the MFIC.
Our Committees (Banking, ICT, Insurance and Regulatory Policy) will closely follow up regulatory framework changes in their sectors and propose initiatives for improvement in areas relevant for our member companies’ business operations.
Council will continue to be an active member of the Government Competitiveness Council, led by Prime Minister, which serves as the main Government body in charge of business environment improvement. Also, we will continue to closely cooperate with EBRD Secretariat to the Competitiveness Council towards achievement of our common goals and promotion of our common interests.
In accordance with our Statute, the election process for President and members of- BoD was organized. The new one-year composition of the Board of Directors is as follows: Mrs. Nela Vitic (Executive Director of Ocean Montenegro), Mr. Pal Kovacs (CEO of CKB), Mr. Antonis Semelides (CEO of Jugopetrol) and Mr. Ivan Bojanovic (CEO of Saga Montenegro). Mr. Christoph Schoen, CEO of Addiko Bank is re-elected for the position of the President of the Council and President of BoD.
As a special part of MFIC Assembly, this year we also had the honor to host Prime Minister of Montenegro Mr. Dusko Markovic as guest speaker.
In his introductory speech, Mr. Christoph Schoen highlighted that during the ten years of existence, the Council has achieved significant success in the two most important fields – it has managed, along with other business associations and the Government of Montenegro to create an atmosphere of trust and a desire to work together to improve the position of Montenegro as a place for investment and on the internal front it has built an association that’s trusted and supported by its members. The reputation enjoyed today by the MFIC has been constructed carefully and is a result of fundamental work undertaken in order to contribute to improving the economy, to make Montenegro even more attractive for investment and to bring the country closer to European standards.
Mr. Schoen also thanked the Government of Montenegro which recognized the importance of the Council and the role it plays in the economic development of Montenegro that has enabled us to directly take part in the decision-making process through active participation in the most important government working bodies, with the goal of transferring the knowledge, experience and expertise that our members possess, in order to make joint efforts to ensure that the best international standards and practices are implemented in Montenegrin legislation.
MFIC President also informed Prime Minister and Government Representatives about further Council members’ investments in Montenegro which are projected to be around 500 million EUR on annual basis for the period 2020-2022. Mr. Schoen concluded the Council will continue to provide support to the Government to design and deliver effective, efficient and business friendly environment.
Prime Minister Markovic highlighted that Montenegro is a prestigious investment and tourist destination, which strengthened its public finance and is continuing with the structural reforms. He pointed out that country international position as a fully pledged NATO member promotes Montenegro as a safe and favourable investment destination.
Prime Minister Markovic emphasized that together with the Government and its ministries, Montenegrin Foreign Investors’ Council played an important role in the development and implementation of policies, which had produced impressive results in the recent period. Markovic said that the growth of foreign direct investments had been estimated at over 60 percent in the previous two years.
Press release of the Government of Montenegro available at the following link: http://www.gov.me/en/News/214897/PM-Markovic-to-foreign-investors-Government-policy-delivers-great-results-Montenegro-among-most-prestigious-investment-destinati.html
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Montenegrin Foreign Investors’ Council is an association of leading foreign investors doing business in Montenegro. It is a non-governmental and non-profit organization, established in 2009, with the aim to help improve investment climate and support business development in Montenegro.
The Council represents and expresses common interests of its members with the goal to further stimulate direct foreign investment in Montenegro and to facilitate communication and cooperation between the investors and official authorities of the state. It is also the best platform for sharing relevant information and align interests of various private owned industries in the country.
