It is one of the most important economic events in the region. The two-day conference contributed to strengthening regional cooperation in the ongoing process of European integration of the countries of the region.

The conference was opened by the President of Montenegro Milo Đukanović, Chancellor of Austria Sebastian Kurz and president of the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro Vlastimir Đukanović, while the Prime Ministers of the Western Balkan countries, in a special panel, have discussed the region’s economic and European perspective.

More than 600 participants were announced among representatives international financial institutions and investors, presidents of the chambers and associations, as well as representatives of successful companies that do business in the Western Balkans, etc.

President Djukanovic said that the “vision of united Europe appears blurred, while the perspective for EU accession for candidate countries seems uncertain”. According to him, moreover regional relations are still burdened by sensitive bilateral issues from the nineties. He urged the EU to help the infrastructural development of the Western Balkans, explaining that this would be the biggest contribution to regional countries to overcome their underdevelopment.  Austrian Chancellor assured that the EU cannot be complete without the Western Balkans and said that the integration can become functional only through cooperation in politics and economy. Kurz praised the European perspective of Montenegro as well as Serbia, estimating that it looks “better than ever”.

A number of panel discussions took place at the conference. The participants of the panel “Economic and European perspective for the Balkans” were Prime Ministers of the Western Balkans countries: Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia. They expressed great interest in enhancing European and regional economic cooperation and harmonization of market regulations.

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