Start-up businesses are significant carriers of innovative, driving fuel for the economy and society, announced the acting president of the Chamber of Commerce (PKCG), Nina Drakić, and added that more and more activities are being focused on building capacity for that community.
At the event on the program for IT start-ups from the region, organized as part of the Digital Summit of the Western Balkan countries, Drakić said that the synergy of policymakers and the business community is the only formula that brings improvement of the business environment, prosperity and well-being to the entire society.
The event, as announced by PKCG, is being implemented with the support of the European Commission and realized in cooperation with six chambers, members of the Chamber Investment Forum.
Drakić said that the Forum of the Western Balkan Six (KIF ZB6) represents a joint initiative of the Chambers of Commerce of Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia, which established a platform in 2017 with the aim of articulating the voice of the business communities of the Western Balkans. of the Balkans, facilitate mutual contacts and promote the region as a unique investment destination.
She reminded that the Digital Summit of the countries of the Western Balkans originated, like the Comoros Investment Forum, on the margins of the Berlin Process, with the mission of promoting the goals of the Digital Agenda of Europe and the Digital Agenda of the Western Balkans.
Drakić said that the agenda of that Digital Summit was designed in order to satisfy as many aspects as possible.
"We gathered 30 start-ups from the region so that through panels and workshops, but also through socializing, you can present your ideas, exchange experiences, learn something new, expand your network of contacts, and agree on possible cooperation," said Drakić in her address to the participants.
As she stated, the start-up ecosystem consists of people, start-ups themselves and various organizations, such as accelerators, financial institutions, universities, corporations and relevant state institutions, which interact as a system.
Drakić said that the task of all social actors is to encourage an innovative ecosystem, in which it is possible for young people to develop their ideas through a startup, in order to be competitive on the world market.
According to her, the chambers of commerce of the region, independently and through the Chamber Investment Forum, are dedicated to improving all the components that make up a start-up ecosystem, because in order to be sustainable it requires systemic support and cooperation with the economy.
"Representatives of the economy, especially from the ICT sector, through initiatives for systemic improvement and, further, active participation in working groups, influenced the adoption of a very important legislative and incentive framework. So today in Montenegro we really have a set of incentive laws and instruments for this type of activity", specified Drakić.
According to her, in order for Montenegro and the region to follow this global trend, it is necessary to change the habits of potential investors in terms of business, but also the willingness of young people to be persistent, because marketing a certain product requires a lot of work and effort, which does not always end in success. .
She apostrophized that the promotion of start-ups by traditional successful businessmen and the encouragement of their cooperation, activities that the chambers of the region implement with the aim of creating a more favorable investor climate, are the essential needs of a start-up ecosystem.
"The example of Serbia, which today is ranked among the top five start-up destinations in the world, definitely inspires hope that the Balkan region, by transferring and implementing examples of good practice, can be not only sustainable, but also a highly developed start-up region," Drakić concluded.
Bonus video:
