May 21, 2018 - In the past week, Podgorica hosted a workshop titled “Entrepreneurship and Innovations for Growth” which was organized by the Ministry of Economy, in cooperation with the Business Start-Up Center Bar and within the Scale.up, which stands for the Enterprise Europe Network. The workshop featured the Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs project as well as the presentations of various European Union initiatives, supports, and programs. This project is intended for potential and existing entrepreneurs, under a condition that existing ones are not operating longer than three years. It is designed to give a chance to entrepreneurs to take on practical training in renowned foreign companies, where partial costs of stay and professional development abroad are covered from the project’s budget.
“Research shows that companies in Montenegro want to grow and develop more in the sector of necessary new skills and new knowledge, as well as having access to finance, which is, in this case, provided through various European Union support programs. The opportunities they offer are really great, and we are willing to help them out too," said the Director for Investment and Development of Small and Medium Enterprises and Management of European Union’s Funds, Radosav Babic.
Mister Babic also added that the European Union’s program, Horizon 2020, focuses on excellence in research and innovation, addressing social challenges primarily, such as creating new jobs and general labor productivity, while at the same time, raises the competitiveness of industries with particular focus on the small and medium-sized enterprises sector.
“Horizon 2020 is characterized by a wider approach, and covers the whole innovation cycle, from the conceptual and starting stage, through research, development, and testing, finally to commercialization and market presence," said Babic.
He introduced the participants of the workshop to the work of the Ministry of Economy and the new Directorate where he is Executive Director. On this occasion, he explained that the establishment of such a Directorate is essential for small and medium-sized enterprises because it connects them easily with the projects both the European Union and Ministry of Economy are working on.
Director of the Business Start-Up Center from Bar, Ivana Tomasevic, noted that a particular survey was conducted in the European Union that showed that the most significant contribution to the country’s GDP is the growth of “scale-up” companies, which are enterprises that are in the phase of recruiting, gaining additional profits and creating new jobs.
“The first activity that was carried out in Montenegro was to identify these companies, which areas they are working in, and the areas that gather the most of such enterprises. The second activity is cooperation with local stakeholders, such as the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Science, Entrepreneurship Centers, with the main goal to create a single economic system to support “scale-up” companies, since the recent research has shown that these companies need different types of support than what is being provided to a start-up company," said Tomasevic.
She also took the time to review the third activity which stands for the improvement of growth capacity through training and mentoring programs, while the fourth activity provides support in preparing the applications themselves.
As a conclusion, the Head of the Directorate for Enhancing Entrepreneurship through International Projects, Ljiljana Belada, said that another program was adopted that will take presence as soon as Horizon 2020 reaches its end. She said that this program, under the name “Horizon Europe,” will take place between 2021 to 2028 and that within this project, most of its budget will be available for research and innovation.
