GRTU president Paul Abela and director-general Vincent Farrugia accompanied President George Abela on an institutional visit to Montenegro this week, together with representatives of other organisations and senior government officials.

As part of the official programme, the GRTU officials participated in a business forum organised at the Chamber of Economy of Montenegro, where Mr Farrugia delivered a speech about the experience of Maltese SMEs both prior and post EU accession, in view of the fact that Montenegro aspires to join the European Union.

The EU plans to publish its opinion on Montenegro’s EU membership application in November 2010.

As part of the GRTU’s programme, its officials also met fellow employers’ representatives in Montenegro and signed a bilateral agreement for increased cooperation with the Montenegrin Employers Federation (MEF).

Both GRTU and MEF are very active members of the European Association of Crafts, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (UEAPME) and this agreement is targeted at increasing collaboration.

In particular, by signing this agreement both parties have agreed to:

provide the same one-stop-shop service to members visiting Montenegro or Malta as that offered in the home country;

provide mutual assistance when organisations are sending a business delegation to Malta or Montenegro;

provide cooperation in consultations and support in representation on position papers and stands;

provide mutual dissemination of strategies and best practices to improve the service of both organisations’ members and work;

collaborate on EU-funding opportunities and projects.

Montenegro is a country that Maltese businesses are keen to explore and the GRTU aims to share its EU-accession experience with Montenegro and, in the process, increase the benefits to both countries.