February 2012
Montenegro at the Tourism Fair “Travel Turkey Izmir” This year’s tourism fair, “Travel Turkey Izmir”, was held for the fifth time in the third largest city in Turkey. The fair took place between the 8th and 11th of December, and included over 600 exhibitors from Germany, Austria, Azerbaijan, China, Indonesia, France, Croatia, India, Netherlands, Great Britain, Kosovo, Malaysia, Slovenia, Tunisia, Jordan, Greece, Montenegro, and Turkey. It was the first time that Montenegro took part in this event as an exhibitor. Montenegro was represented at “Travel Turkey Izmir” by the Tourist Organizations of Bar, Budva and Ulcinj, Podgorica City & Crna Gora Hotels, HTE Ulcinj Riviera Hotel, the Hotel Mediterranean from Ulcinj and the Tourist Agency Adria DMC from Budva. Visitors were mostly interested in the natural beauty of Montenegro. Source: www.pkcg.org
EIB Considers Loaning €50 Million Credit Line to Montenegrin SMEs The European Investment Bank (EIB) has said that it is considering lending €50 million to finance small and medium-sized projects in the fields of economics, energy and environmental protection, and tourism in Montenegro. In a public statement, the EIB announced that projects to be carried out under this umbrella would primarily be carried out by SMEs, as well as by public sector authorities and a variety of different sized entities. The aim of this initiative, which is worth €100 million, is primarily to give SMEs and public sector authorities access to long-term funds at affordable interest rates. The project is being promoted by the Investment and Development Fund of Montenegro. Source: www.wbif.eu
Hundred Building Permits Issued in 2011 The Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism of Montenegro issued about a hundred building permits in 2011, for the most significant investment projects in Montenegro - small hydro power plants (SHPPs) and hotel and tourism facilities. Indicative value of projects for small hydro power plants on rivers Crnja, Bjelovićka and Bistrica, for which in the last 14 months building permits have been issued, or are in the process of issuance, amounts almost €48 million. In addition to SHPPs, significant investment project are related to reconstruction of building of hotels. The total value of future investments amounts near €150 million. Thus, in 2011 three building permits were issued for hotels in Petrovac, Podgorica and Tivat worth €43.847.370, while in January this year one permit was issued for a condo-hotel in Petrovac worth €7.771.075. Also, two additional requests for construction of hotel capacities in Petrovac and Budva (€97.909.391) are pending. It is important to emphasize a three-year work on eliminating business barriers in the area of spatial planning and construction. Unnecessary procedures have been cancelled, time required for issuance of building permit shortened and collection of fees eliminated or brought to reasonable extent. Now, there are only two procedures and the term for obtaining permit is 105 days. Source: www.portalanalitika.com
The Netherlands Invests € 1.7 Million in Small Companies
IPA Cross-Border Programme
Over the past four years, the Dutch government has invested €1.7 million in the development of small and medium-sized enterprises in Montenegro through the programs of TurnAround Management (TAM) and Business Advisory Service (BAS).
The Second Call for proposals in the frame of the IPA Cross-Border Programme Croatia-Montenegro was launched on 5th December 2011. The deadline for submission of the proposals is March 5th, 2012. The priority measures under this Call are the following:
A total of 410 projects have been realized during the past nine years, out of which 204 projects have been financed by the Dutch Government; over the last four years they have paid for the services of 120 consultants. Companies that deal with the production of food and beverages, tourism and civil engineering have all participated in the program. As a result, their total turnover has increased by 57 % and the number of workers has increased by 38%. Source: www.balkans.com
(1) Joint actions for environment, nature and cultural heritage protection (2) Joint tourism and cultural space (3) Small cross-border community development projects The overall indicative amount of € 2,430,000 is made available for financing actions under this Call for Proposals.
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