S&T Country Report - Albania - WBC-INCO Net

3 Conclusions / Recommendations
Even though the business environment in Montenegro has significantly improved
over the past few years, the country is still behind the leading Western Balkan group
(i.e. Croatia, Serbia and FYR of Macedonia), concerning the development of
sophisticated business support systems (e.g. incubators, clusters, technology parks).
No clusters, technology/innovation centres, technology parks, and science or
business parks are in operation yet. The establishment of a well-structured and wellfunded
SME agency (Directorate for Development of Small and Medium-sized
Enterprises – SMEDA) and adoption of a new strategy for 2007 - 2010 can be seen
as a very important step forward.
The Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro and also the Development Fund are
developing further activities in order to strengthen the process of forming the
entrepreneurial incubators and clusters in the country. Several analyses have been
carried and the intended clusters to be established should focus mainly on food
processing (production of prosciutto) and wood industry.
A proper strategy covering development of technology/innovation centres, technology
parks, and science or business parks is lacking. There are no such initiatives in the
country. Some of the international donors (e.g. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische
Zusammenarbeit) are already working on a survey in order to identify the levels of
knowledge among the SME stakeholders of technology parks.
The development of business incubators in Montenegro is in its initial phase with a
support of the Development Fund of the Republic of Montenegro. It is expected, that
the Fund will further support activities in the process of forming the entrepreneurial
incubators and clusters in cooperation with other relevant domestic and foreign
institutions. In spring 2007, the Business Start-Up Centre Bar was created with
financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.
The following recommendations can be given:
• Consult policies with business sector at all stages of the process;
• Formulate a proper strategy covering establishment of
technology/innovation centres, technology and science parks and
business parks;
• Improve communication and information exchange between the
respective authorities (There is a lack of co-operation between institutions
responsible for collecting SME data - Employment Fund, Pension Fund,
Commercial Court and Pubic Revenue Office);
• Prioritise capacity building and ensure institutional sustainability;
page 27/MNE