The delegation of Montenegro, comprising representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, Economy, Sustainable Development and Tourism, and Labour and Social Welfare, headed by Chief Negotiator and National IPA Coordinator Aleksandar Andrija Pejović, participated at the Fifth National IPA Coordinators Conference, which took place in Belgrade on 6-7 November 2014.
The regional event was organised by the European Commission and it gathered National IPA Coordinators and representatives of line ministries from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia.
The conference was devoted to the preparations for the establishment of a body that would ensure a more efficient use of the funds from the Western Balkans Investment Framework.
Ambassador Pejović underlined that the new methodology approach of the Western Balkans Investment Framework will enable the countries of the region to make prepare better for using the EU grants worth EUR 10 billion. The Ambassador presented, in the capacity of National IPA Cooprdinator, the current state of affairs as regards the preparation of the framework for defining priority investment projects in Montenegro, with an emphasis on future plans. These plans should improve the way Montenegro sets its priority development projects. He particularly underlined the link with the project of better connecting the region, which is one of the objectives of the Berlin process initiated earlier this year in August.
The meeting emphasised that the Western Balkans Investment Framework is a strong mechanism of support to beneficiaries’ infrastructure projects. It was emphasised that in the 2014-2020 financial period this mechanism should be used, through more intensive regional cooperation, to implement projects that respond to the needs of all regional countries. In that regard, it was noted that the national institutions are deeply committed to the establishment of specialised structures for carrying out the activities that will be very important for finding funding for the projects.
