Panel – IT Opens New Development Opportunities

The Chamber of commerce of Montenegro and the Association of Managers of Montenegro organized the Panel – IT opens new development opportunities.

The panel aimed to explain to the IT community and the entire business public in Montenegro how and through which programs and activities the Government plans to help and accelerate the development of the IT sector.

As part of the Third package of socio-economic measures, the Government of Montenegro has unequivocally recognized and positioned the need for the development of the IT sector. A significant portion of the package is dedicated to increasing and improving the capacity of the IT sector as a driving force and catalyst for the development of Montenegrin society and economy.

The panel featured the President of the Digital transformation committee of the Association of Managers of Montenegro and a member of the ICT association committee of the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro, Vladan Tabaš, Minister Sanja Damjanović, director general of the Innovation and Technological development directorate at the Ministry of Science, Branka Žižić, general director of the Directorate for investment development of small and medium enterprises and Fund management, Radosav Babić, director of the Science and technology park, Velibor Bošković, as well as over 100 interested participants who followed the panel via Zoom.

Damjanović assessed that Montenegro has the potential to be competitive on the global market in the IT sector, and the Government’s support measures aim to make it a new strong economic branch focused on exports.

Speaking at the panel titled “IT opens new development opportunities,” held at the Chamber of Commerce , she stated that the Government’s goal is to strongly strengthen the innovative economy, for which the IT sector and digitalization are crucial.

“We can’t wait any longer, because we are all aware of the dynamic development and changes driven by the application of new technologies and the needs of our generations, where Montenegro cannot be left behind,” said Damjanović at the panel organized by the The Chamber of commerce of Montenegro, the Association of Managers of Montenegro, and their committees for ICT and digital transformation.

Damjanović pointed out that a key financial package of 30 million EUR, spanning from this year until 2024, is included in the third package of measures in direct partnership between the Government, the domestic sector, and foreign direct investment (FDI).

“These measures aim to make the IT sector a new strong economic branch with high export potential, for IT and digitalization to become catalysts for the development of an innovative economy, to strengthen Montenegro’s traditional strong economic branches, and for the IT sector to contribute to the digital transformation of Montenegro,” Damjanović stated.

She also mentioned that Montenegro is the first candidate country for EU membership to present a smart specialization strategy.

“We have worked on it for over two years, in synergy with the academic and business sectors. It is a development strategy for a country by EU standards,” added Damjanović.

She believes the ICT sector should be aimed at increasing the competitiveness of traditional economic sectors.

“We have established a modern legislative framework, and now we must work together on creating quality educational staff, and we are ready to accelerate the digitalization of Montenegro,” said Damjanović.

According to her, the laws on innovation activities and on incentive measures for the development of research and innovation, which were adopted in the Assembly, open new opportunities for Montenegro and a wide range of reliefs and incentives.

“Starting a business for startups has been made easier, including employment in this area, exemption from corporate income tax in cases of investment or reinvestment in startups. Also, we have tailored this law to our needs and did not copy it,” Damjanović added.

The expected effects, as she believes, are an increase in the number of startup companies, employment in the technological sector, and foreign investments, making Montenegro an attractive destination for the IT sector.

“By the end of next year, we will also have the Science and echnology park (STP), which will be the backbone of the innovation ecosystem,” Damjanović reminded.

Vladan Tabaš, President of the Digital transformation committee of AMM and a member of the ICT Chamber of commerce of Montenegro board, stated that the IT sector believes that the fastest development path for Montenegro is through digital transformation.

“There is increasing talk about the need for digital transformation. Although work has been done on this, significant steps that could have left a strong digital mark on our lives have not been made,” Tabaš said.

He added that, until a few years ago, there was no clear view on this topic, despite the existence of various strategies.

“In this quarantine period, a large number of systems have adapted to the use of digital technologies, with quick adjustments, but this should not deceive us. We are at the beginning of the path, and we must work intensively on promoting these ideas,” Tabaš believes.

He assessed that the level of digital skills must be raised and that the awareness of society as a whole needs to be changed.

“The fact is that the IT sector was not recognized until recently as a significant development opportunity. We know that the Montenegrin sector knows a lot and can carry out strong and important projects in Montenegro, but the current capacities are modest and cannot fully support the sustainable digital transformation of the country,” Tabaš noted.

He believes that the IT sector needs planned, organized, and systematic support in this regard.

“We need a strategy for the development of the IT sector. This document should address a strategic approach to the development of the sector, including planning and increasing the number of IT students, incentives for employment in the IT sector, promoting public-private partnerships, and involving more local IT companies in the realization of IT projects in Montenegro, as well as the future of the IT sector as an export-oriented one,” Tabaš explained.

He added that rapid work must be done on its development in order to meet the challenges in the coming period.

Tabaš noted that there is no reliable statistic on the number of IT companies, as it has been treated within the ICT sector.

“By reviewing the registration codes, it was determined that in 2018, 790 companies submitted their financial statements with an IT prefix or suffix in their registration, and 828 in the previous year. Of these, 275 reported zero revenue, and 783 have five or fewer employees,” Tabaš clarified.

The director of the STP, Velibor Bošković, speaking about the project of establishing a center to support e-commerce for micro and small enterprises, said it would be a quality solution for supporting all those companies that lack knowledge and experience.

“The number of online transactions is growing, and in Montenegro, it is below the average of developed countries. We have been thinking about how the state could launch a joint project to address this problem appropriately and increase the number of companies offering their services through e-commerce solutions,” Bošković said.

Radosav Babić, the general director of the Directorate for investments, development of small and medium-sized enterprises, and fund management at the Ministry of Economy, said that the crisis has confirmed the importance and significance of the IT sector and the high degree of digitalization when it comes to the private sector and the entire public administration.

“The government quickly responded to the crisis caused by the coronavirus through three packages of economic measures. In a few months, we paid out 42 million euros, processed over 37,000 applications, and provided support for more than 15,000 companies,” Babić said.

He mentioned that it has been proven that the administration successfully responded to this challenge, and that the private sector was ready to successfully complete its application through the online platform, without going to the counter, and receive subsidies within just a few days.

Sourse: CDM portal