24. 05. 2013
The first day of the Summit100 Business Leaders of Southeast Europe was marked by the association of Montenegrin companies to the regional construction consortium Fenix. In this manner, companies from Montenegro have recognised the opportunity to enter other markets via that consortium. The Fenix consortium comprises around 70 construction companies from Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.
The Summit100 was opened by Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Đukanović, who said that this initiative confirmed the stability of the countries of the region and was an important step towards cooperation in regard to its economic potential. In addition to Đukanović, the Summit is attended by Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dačić, President of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Vjekoslav Bevanda, Minister of Economic Development and Technology of the Republic of Slovenia Slavko Stepišnik, and Deputy Minister of Economy of FYRM Hristijan Delev.
Regional cooperation and simplified procedures are two key prerequisites for stronger presence of foreign investors in the Western Balkans, said representatives of international financial institutions and large foreign companies operating in the region. At the panel on the region’s potential to attract foreign investments, Head of the Regional Office of the European Investment Bank Andreas Beikos noted that the Western Balkans used to be one country and that now it had to be one strongly integrated region, as some of its countries would not be financially sustainable as isolated entities.
A conclusion of the panel discussion on “Human capital – innovations and creativity as region’s potential” was that experts had to be developed since the early age, like footballers, and bound by business agreements since their early youth in order to prevent them from leaving. Economic development is impossible without high-quality human resources, and at this moment the Western Balkan countries do not have an answer to the brain drain, as there is huge global demand for talented personnel and innovators.