The Ministry of Economic Development, as the leading partner in the SMART ADRIA Blue Growth project, funded under the EU Italy-Albania-Montenegro cross-border cooperation program, has organized an event on Tuesday, April 19 at the Institute of Marine Biology, where the opportunities and recommendations for establishing of the Blue Growth cluster were presented.

On that occasion, the participants had the opportunity to get familiar with the Smart Adria Blue Growth project, i.e. the goals and results which are going to be achieved, then with the current situation in the field of fisheries and aquaculture in Montenegro and with available mechanisms for support to the Blue Growth development through EU support. Also, at the event, examples of good practices from the region were presented, as well as innovative trends in aquaculture and processing.

Having in mind that one of the goals of the project is establishing the Blue Growth cluster in Montenegro, ICT Cortex was presented as an example of good practice, its functioning model, and achieved results, and benefits of clustering. It was also an opportunity for representatives of fishermen's associations to present the current situation in the field of fisheries, the challenges they are facing, and to consider the possibility of establishing the Blue Growth cluster, which was presented by representatives of the Institute of Marine Biology.

In the final part of the event, on behalf of the SMART ADRIA Ministry of Economic Development project team, the Head of the Department for the European Integration, Programming and Implementation of EU Funds, Ivana Janković Mijanović handed the certificates to MSc students who are going to participate in the Summer School "A challenge of the environmental sustainability of marine coastal areas”, which will be organized at the University of Molise in Termoli, Italy.