A favorable business environment is created through timely dialogue

The President of the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Montenegro (AmCham), Svetlana Vuksanović, and the Minister of Finance, Aleksandar Damjanović, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation within the Chamber's Rule of Dialogue program.

Vuksanović and Damjanović assessed that better cooperation between state authorities and the economy, in order to create a predictable business environment that affirms equal conditions for all participants in the market, is necessary for the successful implementation of existing, but also attracting new investments.

AmCham announced that through the Rule of Dialogue program, emphasis is placed on the establishment of coordinated cooperation, which will help solve complex problems in a clear and structured way.

Vuksanović stated that in their daily activities AmCham members face numerous challenges and that it is through cooperation and continuous dialogue that they want to identify them and help solve them.

"We believe that the timely involvement of the business community is particularly important when designing regulations of importance for the business environment, especially in the domain of the financial system and technologies, public revenues and procurement." In addition, we offer the help and experience of our members when creating policies and measures aimed at a predictable and transparent tax and customs policy," explained Vuksanović.

She added that they want to work together to suppress illegal trade and create a predictable business environment that affirms equal conditions for all market participants.

Damjanović announced that the signing of the Memorandum is a confirmation of the Ministry's intention to improve and concretize cooperation with AmCham, as a credible and important partner.

"I am convinced that we can still count on support in the implementation of the Ministry's development policies." We are committed to transparent, stable and sustainable public finances. "One of our main aspirations is to reduce the rate of the gray economy to the smallest possible extent, to finance important infrastructure projects in transport and energy, and to create a favorable overall environment for attracting credible investors," said Damjanović.

He added that AmCham can help to increase the level of American investments, while the Ministry tries to remove obstacles in business and create a more favorable business environment, while respecting legal frameworks.

"The Ministry strives for predictable and consistent management of public finances, and the weight of the tasks before us is further complicated by current geopolitical events and the accompanying challenges we face at the macro and micro level." Therefore, the continuation of cooperation with reliable partners certainly gains additional importance in the development economic perspective, in these challenging times", said Damjanović.

Vuksanović added that the gray economy limits the possibilities of attracting quality investments and deprives every society of serious resources for progress.

"Less gray economy, I believe, means more foreign investments." In the fight against the gray economy, not only the measures of the state apparatus, but also new technologies, knowledge and human capital can help. All this is brought together by AmCham and we are ready to work in cooperation with the Government and relevant ministries to ensure that the Montenegrin society and economy progress", said Vuksanović.

The signing of the Memorandum with the Ministry of Finance is a continuation of the cooperation between AmCha and the Montenegrin Government that began on June 6 at the Open with the Prime Minister event, when the umbrella Memorandum on cooperation on the Rule of Dialogue program was signed.

AmCham has already signed separate Memoranda with the Ministries of Health and Economic Development and Tourism.

In the following period, the plan is to sign a Memorandum with other relevant ministries.

The goal of the Rule of Dialogue program is to contribute to a predictable and transparent business environment based on the rule of law.

"Such an environment creates a good basis for attracting renowned investors from the United States of America (USA) and Western European countries." Their arrival on the Montenegrin market not only provides capital, but also knowledge and experience, as well as a value system based on socially-responsible business," the announcement concludes.