A Start of New Era between UAE And Montenegro

In order to reduce the dependence on oil and oil related resources and to achieve economic diversification, UAE has started to support economic policies by building one of the best infrastructures in the world. Mr. Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Minister of Economy of UAE government said this policy has enabled the country to weather effectively the threats posed by global economic changes. Mr. Al Mansoori also claimed that UAE has been successful in targeting the strategic countries all over the world.

He was speaking on his visit to Montenegro to strengthen the political and economic ties which is hoped to bolster the investment. He met Mr. Igor Luksic, the Prime Minister of Montenegro and discussed the cooperation in the field of agriculture, industries and banking. The UAE Minister also briefed Montenegro Prime Minister about the two agreements signed during his visit. The first agreement is the economic cooperation in tourism, telecom sector. The second agreement is in the field of open skies.

Mr. Al Mansoori hoped that Montenegro will be able to attract more tourists and also foreign direct investment. He cited the strategic location of Montenegro as the reason for this. Montenegro is at Adriatic Coast which acts as a bridge between Mediterranean and central Europe. It has developed a good transportation of land and sea making it one of the favored destinations for investment.

Montenegro wants to become a part of European Union. It has undertaken a slew of reforms in accordance to European reforms. The Montenegro government is also trying to speed up the reforms. UAE is keen on taking advantages of the investment opportunities offered by Montenegro especially in the field of agriculture, tourism, food and transport industries.

As a part of the official visit of UAE delegation, a memorandum of understanding was signed between President of Atlas Group, Dr. Dusko Nezevic and CEO of S.S. Lootah Group, Mr. Abdullah Saeed Lootah. Atlas Group is one of the leading business companies in the world while Lootah is UAE based company. The MoU signed by these two companies set the framework for cooperation between companies from both UAE and Montenegro. Both groups stressed that they share a common vision and commitment to attain sustainable economic development and balance between economic, social and environmental issues. Both companies plan to start cooperation through an initiative between conference and business division. Atlas Group is organizing an Eco Fair in Budva in Montenegro while S.S.Lootah Group is organizing Sustainable Living Expo in both Dubai and Vancouver in Canada. Both of these events are expected to encourage Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) and sub economic sectors. They are expected to contribute to growth of sectors like travel, tourism, transportation, food etc.

The Minister from UAE said that the events of his visit are in line with the strategy of Ministry of Economy of encouraging national companies to take advantages of investment opportunities offered by countries all over the world. Mr. Mansoori also appreciated the efforts of national companies to foster the partnership between UAE and Montenegro.