The final conference was opened by the Minister of Economy, Dragica Sekulić, who pointed out that the work on drafting the Strategy in the past period was very successful, as well as that the expert assistance of the European Commission, i.e. the Joint Research Centre (JRC) was very significant in this regard. Based on these efforts, the plan is for the Government of Montenegro to adopt, by the end of the year, this document that will contribute to the further development of the most promising sectors of the Montenegrin economy.

- The importance of the concept of “smart specialisation” has also been recognized by the Industrial Policy of Montenegro by 2020. It stimulates structural changes, modernisation of the industry with the aim of adopting new technologies and new products, investing in the development of knowledge and skills, improving innovation and research opportunities, especially through cooperation between science and economy, Minister Sekulić said.

In a written message to the participants, Minister of Science Dr. Sanja Damjanović stated that there was a demanding road ahead of us, but that she believed that Montenegro could take the course of knowledge and innovation economy.

- Let us focus on the next step, the conference for which we have gathered today, and let us try to crystallise a shared vision in each of the priorities. We should not forget that this is not an ordinary vision, but a vision in which science, innovation and knowledge and an interaction of disciplines, sectors and technologies are crucial, Minister Damjanović indicated in her statement. (Full version of the address by Minister Damjanović is available HERE ).

President of the Chamber of Economy of Montenegro, Mr. Vlastimir Golubović, said that he was proud that the Chamber had exercised its most important function – articulating the voice of the economy and representing its interests, while playing a key role in defining the national economic priorities to be covered by the S3 Strategy.

- The entrepreneurial discovery process in Montenegro was very intensive and lasted considerably shorter than in other European countries. I think that this is one of the indicators that Montenegro has the potential to adopt the best practices of the European Union in an efficient and effective way, as well as to integrate its economy into the single market, the President of the Chamber of Economy said.

According to him, through daily contact with enterprises, it became apparent that small and medium-sized enterprises did not have sufficient own funds to invest in innovation and development. Therefore, the Chamber of Economy will pay special attention to helping enterprises to introduce innovation into their production and service processes in the future.

- We hope that we will succeed in structuring these activities into a set of services that would represent a new impulse for Montenegrin businessmen to connect with the Montenegrin scientific community in order to get ideas and solutions for the introduction of innovative processes, transform innovative ideas into projects in accordance with international standards and identify and apply for funds, President Golubović emphasized in his address.

Their impressions of the good practice and experience in the development of the Smart Specialisation Strategy were also shared by Ms. Svetlana Vuksanović, President of Montenegrin Employers Federation and Mr. Zoran Vulević, Executive Director of the Montenegro Business Alliance.

Montenegro is in the final phase of the entrepreneurial discovery process, in which over 250 representatives from the academic, economic, public and civil sectors took part. Through open dialogue, the process led to the identification of priorities and their synergies based on the strengths and potentials for research, development and innovation with emphasis on practical application and market orientation. The identified priorities are: Renewable Energy Sources; Sustainable Agriculture and Food Value Chain; New Materials and Sustainable Technologies; Sustainable and Health Tourism and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

According to the consultant for the entrepreneurial discovery process, Deputy General Manager at Technology Park Ljubljana, Ms. Marjana Majerič, it is now up to the Government of Montenegro to take the next step.

- The Government has to convince the European community that you are ready to enter a large European family, where we can all help, Majerič said, adding that the future of Montenegro ought to be based on knowledge, experience, investments and digitisation.

Dr. Darko Petrušić, Director General of the Directorate for Scientific Research Activities, familiarised the participants with the work that preceded the final results, explaining the quantitative analysis and the manner in which the mapping of economic, scientific and innovative potentials was carried out and pointing out that the key role in EDP ought to be played by the enterprises as it was necessary for their knowledge and experience to be reflected in the strategy and to present the guidelines for further development.

Finally, at the end of the conference, representatives of sectoral groups presented the conclusions from their areas and defined the future steps to be taken in the implementation of this important policy document, which the Government of Montenegro should adopt by the end of the year.