"The memorandum is a good basis for supporting the promotion of science and research, but also for stimulating innovation in entrepreneurship"

The participation of the business community in the creation of policies aimed at connecting scientific and research institutions with the economy will contribute to the progress of the entire society, said the President of the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Montenegro, Svetlana Vuksanović and the Minister of Science and Technological Development, Biljana Šćepanović.

They signed a Memorandum of Cooperation within the framework of AmCham's Governance of Dialogue program.

Vuksanović, as reported by AmCham, reminded that there are many areas in which the ideas and practices of their members can be used.

"With this Memorandum, we provide a good basis for supporting the promotion of science and research, but also stimulate innovation in entrepreneurship. "AmCham will help create the conditions for the development of innovative activity through the improvement of the environment for the functioning of start-ups and other entities that perform innovative activities," added Vuksanović.

She stated that they are looking forward to the fact that the Memorandum will enable the private sector to be involved in the design of instruments, as well as the implementation of the concept of smart specialization.

"We are also convinced of the very productive cooperation between our institutions through the Inter-Institutional Group for Smart Specialization," Vuksanović said.

Šćepanović emphasized that, for the department she manages, dialogue and active involvement of all parties - public administration, economy, academic community and civil society - is a key factor in progress in science, research and technological development.

"The joint engagement of all the aforementioned actors forms the basis of the concept of smart specialization, within which the priority areas for the development of Montenegro are defined, as part of the strategy of long-term economic growth based on innovation and knowledge." In this sense, we are very happy to add AmmCham to the rather heterogeneous framework for the development and implementation of the concept of smart specialization as a reliable partner in providing support in the further development of regulations important for the business environment," Šćepanović said.

Vuksanović announced that economies in modern society rest on innovations, while the application of digital solutions increases the efficiency of all processes.

"And there we have room for discussion so that they can work together to create development policies adapted to such a reality." Therefore, the focus of public policies, and therefore of our conversations, should be digital transformation that leads to greater transparency and productivity of all processes, as well as adjustment of the labor market and human capital," said Vuksanović.

At the meeting, it was stated that the cooperation between AmCham and the Ministry represents a platform for attracting foreign investments, as well as connecting with the economy and the scientific-research community outside of Montenegro.

At the beginning of June, AmCham signed an umbrella Memorandum of Cooperation on the Government of Dialogue program at the Otvoreno event with the Prime Minister.

Later, the cooperation continued by signing a memorandum with the ministries of finance, health and economic development and tourism.

The goal is to achieve cooperation with all relevant ministries that can contribute to the improvement of the business environment.