April 25, 2018 - The "Trade Facilitation in the CEFTA Region to the Common EU Market" conference was held on the 25th of April at the Hilton Hotel in Podgorica, Montenegro.
Since Montenegro was the host of the conference, the opening words were given by Montenegrin representatives - the Minister of Economy Dragica Sekulić, the President of Montenegrin Chamber of Commerce Vlastimir Golubović, and the Director of the CEFTA Secretariat, Emir Đikić.
“CEFTA” stands for the Central European Free Trade Agreement. This innovative free trade agreement is directed not only at a commodity exchange but also for significant liberalization in services, investments, public procurement and intellectual property. The signing of the multilateral free trade agreement has dramatically affected regional trade, domestic and foreign investments, as well as its economic and social development.
The first Central European Free Trade Agreement was signed on December 21st, 1992, in Krakow, Poland. However, in 2006, CEFTA increased the number of the signatories, and also added several series of annexes and additional protocols related to different areas. The appended annexes contributed to the whole process of forming a strong foundation for the establishment and implementation of regulations in critical areas related to investment and trade.
In regards to the significance of the mentioned Agreement, the conference "Trade Facilitation in the CEFTA Region to the Common EU Market" conference was held at the Hilton Hotel in the capital of Montenegro.
The Conference was focused on three most important panels: "International legal framework for trade facilitation", "Challenges in cross-border trade in the CEFTA region" and "Towards a common EU market". The Conference aimed to harmonize opinions regarding the development and implementation of decisions made concerning trade and the free market, and the unification of the documents used for free trade and regulations for border crossings. Also, particular attention was given to the presentation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, Additional Protocol 5 to CEFTA 2006, and the EU integration process.
Aside from Montenegrin participants, the exhibitors of the Conference were representatives of the World Bank, the European Commission, Chamber of Commerce of the Region, CEFTA Secretariat, German Corporation for International Cooperation, National Committee for Relief of Montenegro, Montenegrin Customs Administration, Customs Administrations of Moldova and Serbia, food safety authorities of Montenegro and Macedonia, and the EU SEED project.
The overall objective of the Conference was to promote the benefits of CEFTA to a broader audience within CEFTA Parties and to facilitate better implementation of the Agreement.
