The Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro and the ICT Cortex cluster organized a presentation on July 5th of the Analysis of the Information and Communication Technology sector through financial statements for the year 2023.
The focus of the event was on the ICT market over the past year, with a particular emphasis on key trends and assumptions for positioning the IT industry as one of the key growth sectors of the economy.
The President of the Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Nina Drakić, stated that the ICT sector has been achieving excellent results year after year.
“Our ICT sector is one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing branches of the economy and, according to all available indicators, is experiencing continuous growth and achieving outstanding results. Data from financial statements confirm this trend and indicate the enormous potential that the ICT sector has for the future development of our economy,” said Drakić.
The Chamber is dedicated to supporting all initiatives that contribute to the development of ICT and the digital transformation of the Chamber, public institutions, and the economy, aware that this is key to sustainable growth and development.
“Our companies can develop advanced technological solutions that are competitive in the global market, thereby increasing exports and reducing the need for importing similar solutions. By doing so, we not only strengthen our economy but also enhance Montenegro’s image as a technologically advanced country. Digitalization is an indispensable factor in modern business, and we are determined to return Montenegro to a leading position in this process in the region,” concluded the President.
“There is a lot of room for the state to stimulate the development of the ICT sector. This is a highly potent branch that can evolve into a vertical industry,” assessed Nada Rakočević, Secretary of the Chamber’s Association Board.
One of the challenges in analyzing statistical data is that a significant number of IT companies are incorrectly classified and thus not part of the official ICT statistics, pointed out Milena Aković, Marketing Director of the ICT Cortex cluster.
“The ICT sector accounts for 11% of GDP and employs 2.75% of the workforce. It is the fastest-growing sector in the last 10 years, makes up 25% of total exports, and has the quickest return on investment,” said Aković.
To create an insight into potential results beyond the statistics, certain companies were mapped and the analysis supplemented, which ultimately meant that the total revenue in ICT exceeded 750 million euros in the past year. As part of the event, a panel discussion on the topic “ICT – From Horizontal to Vertical Sector” was held.
“ICT is progressing impressively. It is enough to say that it participates in 25% of exports, whereas a decade ago that number was ten times smaller. It is the right time to consider what our next steps are in its development,” said the moderator, Valentina Radulović, Director of the Science and Technology Park.
Ratko Nikolić, Executive Director of BI Consulting, stated that the ICT sector has quadrupled in the number of enterprises and revenues compared to 2019.
“If we consider the entire ICT sector as a whole, which consists of IT services, telecommunications, and IT equipment trade, there have been changes among certain segments in the previous period. During the pandemic year 2020, the IT services sector surpassed IT equipment trade in terms of revenue and was the only segment among these three that did not experience a decline due to the crisis. From this, we conclude that this is an industry that can ‘smooth out’ economic fluctuations during times of crisis,” said Nikolić.
Branimir Bukilić, President of the ICT Association of the Chamber of Commerce, stated that the IT sector can grow further if it creates and exports its products, instead of “raw knowledge.”
“The idea is to convert the existing knowledge in our IT companies, which predominantly work on exporting raw knowledge for designers and innovators from other countries, into innovative projects and product creation. Let us find a way to motivate them to develop their products and sell them,” urged Bukilić.
During the panel, the importance of the S3 strategy was highlighted, and the need for creating infrastructure for innovation and launching a new cycle of entrepreneurial discovery was pointed out.
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