This municipal unit will provide efficient, flexible and proactive support to entrepreneurs, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and those who want to start a business
The Business Info Center in Tivat, which establishment was supported by the Kingdom of Norway through the project "Norway for you - Montenegro", was officially put into operation today. This municipal unit will provide efficient, flexible and proactive support to entrepreneurs, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and those who want to start a business, through the provision of information and advisory support, thus contributing to greater employment, improvement of the business environment and economic development of Tivat.
The State Secretary for Economy of the Ministry of Economic Development and Tourism, Armend Milla, said that the Ministry will be a reliable partner in the future work of the Business Info Center and in encouraging the further development of entrepreneurship in the municipality.
"The growth trend of business entities in Montenegro is evident each year, where, according to Monstat data, the Municipality of Tivat is in sixth place in terms of the number of active business entities, which creates the necessity of improving and developing new entrepreneurial infrastructure both at the national and local level. The future work of the Center through the provision of advisory services, the promotion of support programs and the organization of entrepreneurial education cycles for different target groups will represent an excellent model for connecting the public, local and private sectors and serve as an example for other municipalities to strengthen cooperation with the private sector," Milla said.
The Business Info Center will be a single point of flow of all information related to the support of small business development, and a link between business and economic entities and parties involved in improving the business environment - national institutions, agencies, local organizations, international partners, funds, and other stakeholders.
"The idea of establishing a Business Info Center is in line with Tivat's development agenda and efforts to create new jobs. This will contribute to the creation of a new business environment in our municipality. There is already significant interest in using the Business Info Center, and the municipality of Tivat will continue to support it", said the Mayor of Tivat, Željko Komnenović.
BIC will support the rest of the local administration, but also others, primarily business entities and interested parties in Tivat, in providing information related to the preparation and implementation of specific projects and project proposals. By providing conditions or information related to the necessary courses, training and a type of consulting services to interested parties in the fields of project management, tourism, culture, rural development, green technologies, innovative and sustainable economic development, the newly formed unit will contribute to the development of projects that contribute to the improvement of local business and social environment.
"Conceptualization of the idea of establishing four Business Info Centers resulted from the Analysis of the needs for stronger support for the development of small businesses at the municipal level, which was also carried out within the project "Norway for you - Montenegro". The assessment of the capacity and readiness of individual municipalities to implement such a model was carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Development and local self-governments during February and March 2022, based on pre-defined criteria," said Armen Čekić, manager of the project "Norway for you - Montenegro", implemented by UNOPS in Montenegro.
The Kingdom of Norway supported the establishment of BIC Tivat with 12,270 Euros, while the Municipality of Tivat provided the premises and funded its reconstruction with over 30,000 Euros, so that the entire area of the future BIC could be used for its purpose. Apart from this, the project "Norway for you - Montenegro" supported the establishment of business info centers in Kolašin, Žabljak and Danilovgrad, through the development of work programs and action plans, and the procurement of furniture and equipment.