During the second panel with moderator Ana Cmiljanić, IRF Executive Director Irena Radović, Head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Montenegro Remon Zakaria, General Secretary of the Union of Municipalities of Montenegro Mišela Manojlović and representative of Addico bank MNE Miloš Miketić.

Moderator Ana Cmiljanić said that preliminary data for the first five months of 2023 show that net foreign direct investments in our country have decreased by 35 percent.

Dr. Irena Radović pointed out that IRF is the strongest financial lever that the state has when it comes to supporting the economy.

- We all have to be even better and improve practices so that businessmen can do business more easily and simply. We are talking about digitization - we are asking for the procedure to be shortened and speeded up so that businessmen do not spend time at the counters, but that the documentation is available to them "with a click" - said Radović.

She referred to the global situation affecting the increase in credit prices and inflation. According to her, when funds are expensive, the stimulus to the economy is lower, and the lowest rate of demand for investment loans in Europe was in the second quarter of this year. All this is transferred to the IRF, which borrows from European banks.

- We are trying not to "overload" all this on the economy, but to ensure its sustainability, and that is why our interest rates are lower compared to commercial banks - said Radović.

She appealed to local governments to work on creating projects that can be financed from international projects.

- There are numerous high-quality projects here in the north, and among them the project of the distribution center stands out, and we should work to ensure that it receives European funds - concluded Radović.

She said that the transformation of IRF into a development bank will contribute to a better use of European funds for projects related to infrastructure, innovation, and green transition.

Remon Zakaria, head of the EBRD office in Montenegro, pointed out that good infrastructure and connectivity can bring great economic benefits to any country and attract foreign investors.

- The Bar - Boljare highway represents a strong potential and its completion is extremely important, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development provides strong support to this, but similar infrastructure projects, especially in the North, such as the Berane - Kolašin and Rožaje - Špiljani roads - he pointed out, adding that over 10 million euros have been invested in the reconstruction of these two roads so far.

During his presentation, he presented the credit lines that the EBRD implements with local banks, and whose focus is on small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as women entrepreneurs and young people in business.

- We want to help these companies and strengthen their competitiveness, but also provide advisory support to all of them - said Zakaria.

According to him, the EU offers a whole range of support programs, including non-refundable grants, loans and guarantees, but he points out that Montenegro must work harder and become more actively involved in order to take advantage of them.

- The state and local governments must work together so that these funds are available as soon as possible and are used as a whole - he said.

Zakaria also said that the EBRD helps the Government in policy reforms, attracting foreign investors, and provides technical support so that all tenders are according to international standards.

Mišela Manojlović, general secretary of the Union of Municipalities of Montenegro, said that the goal of this institution is to work strongly on the development and improvement of local self-government, more efficient performance of their responsibilities in the interest of the local population, and on the protection and realization of the common interests of the members.

- This Association is key to monitoring and implementing projects, and our focus is primarily on strengthening municipalities in the financial sense, with an emphasis on grants and grants - she said.

She pointed out that they are particularly proud of the fact that the Union of Municipalities of Montenegro allocated 500,000 euros from its own funds to finance technical documentation for municipal investment projects, pointing out that at the moment 17 of them are using these funds.

According to her, rural infrastructure projects also play a key role in the development of rural tourism in Montenegrin municipalities.

- Infrastructure projects in rural areas are key to realizing the BIO-EKO brand and provide municipalities with a significant opportunity to implement projects from the IPARD 3 program - said Manojlović.

Representative of Addico bank MNE, Miloš Miketić, upon the moderator's statement that the liquid assets of banks increased by 15 percent compared to the previous year, pointed out that there is money, and deposits are growing as a result of the war in Ukraine.

- We are witnessing a huge flow of money through Montenegro that we have not been able to keep and to create a fund to invest these funds in development projects. That amount of money is a burden on the banks and they turn to bonds in a larger percentage, which means that we have a shortage of projects in which the banks are ready to invest. However, it is good that we are small and we can easily turn that wheel around - said Miketić, who looks with optimism at the data showing the reduction of the budget deficit and the forecast that a surplus can be expected from 2025, then at the reduction of debt in relation to GDP and other good trends.

He emphasizes that banks are only part of the "investment puzzle" and that they must comply with the strict Basel 3 business standards.

- The bank gets involved in every project at the moment when the paperwork has been completed, all the necessary permits and other conditions that will not prevent the investment have been secured. The project must be good and profitable - said Miketić.

He emphasized the importance of the IRF as well as the planned Credit Guarantee Fund, which will take on that part of the financing risk that commercial banks do not want and encourage Montenegrin companies to more easily obtain the necessary financing for investment.