10 October 2018 - The Committee of the Association of the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro supported the proposal of a certain number of tradesmen related to the non-working Sunday.
“That would significantly increase the productivity, workers would be more satisfied and more responsible regarding their tasks, they would spend more time with their family and would be able to plan their spare time better. Employers would develop much higher social responsibility, costs of the engagement of additional workforce would be reduced as well as current maintenance costs and regular costs for services (electric energy, heating, public utilities…),” said the representatives of the Chamber of Commerce.
The Committee considered the operation of the Trade sector during the first eight months of this year and the implementation of the Program “Kupujmo domaće”.
Secretary of the Committee of the Trade Association, Milica Tomašević, explained that the initiative for the introduction of a Sunday off was undertaken by a specific number of tradesmen, representatives of trading chains.
“Closed shops would not do the damage to the employers. The turnover would not go down, but it would just be distributed on other days when a greater number of employees would be working. Therefore, a Sunday off wouldn’t cause a reduction in the number of employees,” said Tomašević.
Zoran Kojičić from the “Voli” company agrees with the proposal and thinks that it would be beneficial for the profitability, productivity just as representatives of many other markets and companies.
Information about the business in the Sector of Trade between January and August was presented by the Secretary of the Committee, Milica Tomašević.
Turnover in the retail sector amounted to 929,6 million EUR and it’s 4,5% in comparison to the same period last year.
The largest turnover was recorded in August (161 million EUR) and in July (143 million EUR). There are many more employees in the trade sector than in other sectors.
Total exchange of goods of Montenegro amounted to 1.945,2 million EUR, 12,4 % higher than in 2017. The biggest volume of exchange of goods was with the EU countries and it’s 19,1 % higher than last year. Participation of the EU in the total exchange of goods amounted 48,1%, CEFTA 29,9 %, and others 22%.
Generally speaking, trade recorded an increase which is partly thanks to a good tourism season.
All the activities envisioned by the program “Kupujmo domaće” have been successfully carried out and resulted in the continuous growth of the domestic products turnover. Around 17% of consumers show more affection for domestic products. In order to reinforce the economy, we must force more domestic products on our market, says Vladimir Raičević, CEO of the IPSOS Strategic Marketing for Montenegro.
Source: Cafe del Montenegro
