On Monday, May 29, 2023, the beginning of the establishment of the Swiss-Montenegro Chamber of Commerce was marked at an event which, in addition to representatives of the Swiss business community in Montenegro, was attended by Aleksandar Damjanović, Minister of Finance of the Government of Montenegro, His Excellency Urs Šmid, Ambassador of Switzerland in Serbia and Montenegro and the president of the Swiss-Montenegro Chamber of Commerce and CEO of Sky Express Montenegro, Majo Mićović.
Among the founding members of the new chamber are the companies Sky Express Montenegro, Tara Resources, The Chedi Luštica Bay and Hoffmann La-Roche Ltd Podgorica.
In his introductory speech, the president of the Swiss-Montenegro Chamber of Commerce and CEO of Sky Express Montenegro, Majo Mićović, pointed out the importance of this organization for the further improvement of economic relations between Switzerland and Montenegro, as well as for the creation of new lucrative business opportunities between Switzerland and Montenegro. company.
"Our goals include the creation of reliable, efficient and well-directed relations with the main Montenegrin economic, political and social factors; encouraging companies based in Switzerland to develop their business activities on the domestic market, as well as increasing stability and transparency and promoting professionalism and business ethics in order to achieve Swiss quality standards, innovative approach and compliance with regulations and laws'', said Mićović.
The Minister of Finance, Aleksandar Damjanović, confirmed the support of the Government of Montenegro for the work of the Swiss-Montenegrin Chamber of Commerce and pointed out that Switzerland is among the first five countries with the largest volume of investments and cooperation with Montenegro, and that the establishment of the Swiss-Montenegrin Chamber of Commerce is of exceptional importance for strengthening the economy of Montenegro.
His Excellency Mr. Schmid emphasized that the establishment of the Swiss-Montenegro Chamber of Commerce is a significant achievement for bilateral relations between Switzerland and Montenegro. ''I would like to congratulate the founding companies of the chamber on this important step. The very structure of the founding companies indicates the variety of business activities performed by Swiss companies on the Montenegrin market, from cyber security and mining to real estate development and the pharmaceutical industry.
After the official's address, there were presentations of the corporate activities of the founding members and on that occasion the following spoke: Chris James, executive director of Tara Resources, Jan Albers, general manager of The Chedi Luštica Bay, Marija Vukotić, director of Hoffmann La Roche-ltd Podgorica, and Majo Mićović, CEO of Sky Express Montenegro.
In his closing address, Mr. Mićović stated that one of the first activities of the chamber members is already planned for June 2, when the Swiss investment fund Evolution Equity Partners from Zurich and the Sky Express Montenegro Company will donate 500 licenses for the use of software intended for cyber security education to employees at University of Montenegro. 'The value of the donation is 50.000 euros. It is about advanced cyber security education using a software platform that will offer a new level of digitized education. Last year, Montenegro was faced with brutal attacks by hacker groups, during attacks on the digital resources of the Government of Montenegro and public companies. Effective and adequate cyber security education should be one of the key steps in developing awareness and cyber hygiene standards to counter future possible malicious activities'', said Mićović.