The Institute for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (IEED) announced today the realization of the project “Mapping of cultural and creative industries in Montenegro”, focusing on calculating the economic effects of the sector, identifying and promoting best practices, improving entrepreneurial skills in the sector, as well as preparing strategic guidelines for further development of the sector for policy makers.
“Creative and cultural industries are dynamic sectors that are rapidly growing within the global economy. They contribute to social growth through the diversification of national economies, income generation and employment opportunities. The research on the Indicators of the culture impact on development, conducted in cooperation with UNESCO in 2015, showed that the contribution of cultural activities to gross domestic product of Montenegro in 2013 amounted to 4.62%, which indicates that culture is responsible for a significant part of domestic production, while helping to generate income and livelihoods,” said Mr. Dragoljub Jankovic, Head of the Ministry of Culture and UNESCO contact person for the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
“I see an enormous potential in this country to use the knowledge of young and creative people to cope with the challengies at the Western market. We have no problems to compete with the best ones and simply offer high-quality products. Quite often It happens to me to get CV’s designers, people who work as freelancers, from their apartments. In some way they still struggle to open themselves to the world and start their own business in Montenegro, but they need some type education. I think that with an institutional framework that would be created and which would enable this first step, we could simplify the creation of a large number of companies. I believe that creative industries together with the IT industry of digital society can seriously participate in Montenegro’s GDP. The state has not yet recognized it or is not overly active on the ground to implement it. I hope this will be a little bit different. “, pointed out Mr. Miloš Milošević, creative director of interactive design studio FLEKA LTD.
“Within the project, we want to map the cultural and creative industries in Montenegro and evaluate their contribution to the gross domestic product and, above all, the potential for further development, to recognize the best practices and to promote them, and on the basis of scientific lessons, we give proposals to the decision makers for the necessary support for this sector . The survey shows that more and more micro enterprises are established in the sector of cultural and creative industries, but there is a lack of the entrepreneurial skills necessary for placing products on the market. This project will give an answer to all this, offer training and enable creators to adequately valorize their product on the market. We are particularly pleased with the fact that the Ministry of Culture has recognized the importance of this project and will participate in monitoring of activities and of course accepting suggestions for policy development in relation to this sector. “ announced the Director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, dr. Dragana Radevic.
The project “Mapping and development of cultural and creative industries in Montenegro” will be implemented until February 2020, with the support of the UNESCO International Fund for Cultural Diversity. The project was selected in the global competition of 227 projects that applied for the annual UNESCO International Fund for Cultural Diversity and was best ranked out of the total of seven projects that UNESCO will fund through this call. Today’s presentation of the project was attended by representatives of this sector in Montenegro, including representatives of state institutions, private companies and entrepreneurs.
