November 16, 2018 - Regardless of the political processes or the socio-economic situation of women, the Capital will seek to pursue what your initiatives are and we will have a reliable partner for all your ideas and projects, announced Mayor Ivan Vuković at a meeting with representatives of the Women's Political Network - Snežana Jonica and Marija Ćatović coordinators of the Program for Political Participation and Marija Đuričković Gojčević and Jelena Radenović, coordinators of the Program for Economic Empowerment, which this year has a focus on women entrepreneurship.
"As a citizen, above all, and then as a mayor, I am very much looking forward to every initiative that goes towards the affirmation and improvement of the position of women in our society, in a way that it is also a kind of civilization feature, because there are more women in politics, therefore the Montenegrin society will be more emancipated and better, " said Vukovic.
Snežana Jonica introduced the mayor with a model of support to women entrepreneurship - a system of support for business plans, which would mean more specific benefits – reduce the unemployment rate, because it opens the possibility of engaging women, both those applying and those they employ for the project, but also the return of money to the municipality both through the reduction of unemployment, and through the initiation of interesting businesses, through good defining priorities, then through taxes and contributions through income taxes. As she pointed out, this program would dominantly relate to the establishment of new businesses, and to a lesser extent to the expansion of the existing ones.
Representatives of the Women's Political Network informed the Mayor that in the process of public debate on the budget for the next year they will submit a request for planning funds intended for supporting women's entrepreneurship, and the Mayor expressed willingness to introduce a special budget line for women entrepreneurship as a budget proposer, which amount would be subsequently defined. He also pointed out that in the City Parliament he would initiate the adoption of the Decision regulating the distribution of these funds
Interlocutors agreed that, when it comes to the realization of this project, the Capital is in a better position than other Montenegrin municipalities, since through the functioning of the Bureau for Economic Cooperation and support to the business community it has experience in the preparation of business plans, projects, business incubators.
It is necessary to build a strong foundation for the realization of this project, and in the coming years it will be upgraded. Apart from the offered model, Mayor Vuković left the possibility of allocating funds through interest-free loans, while the third segment of cooperation would be, apart from the already established women's counseling center, by equipping another business space that will turn into a business incubator and this could be a new opportunity for women beginners in business, and the Women's Political Network, as a partner, should work on animating international organizations to conduct continuous training, because it is in the common interest that this area is present. Also, these experts would identify through research what is missng in business, implement continuous programs, exhibit comparative experiences, do market analysis, etc.
Text by CdM, on November 15th, 2018, read more at CdM
