At the Innovation and entrepreneurship center Tehnopolis, the CRAFTINNO Craftsmanship Fair was held today, alongside an Info Day on support programs from the Ministry of Science and Technological Development of Montenegro, as the concluding event of the project “Innovative Sustainable Technologies for Economic Enhancement of Craftsmanship – CRAFTINNO”. The project has been conducted by IEC Tehnopolis in partnership with the Municipality of Niksic, with support from the Kingdom of Norway through the “Norway for You – Montenegro” project, implemented by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) since March this year.
The Minister of Science and Technological Development of Montenegro, Biljana Scepanovic, stated: “The CRAFTINNO Craftsmanship Fair rounds off a beneficial project, in which all participants, through collaboration and mutual learning, have gained new values, whether it be theoretical knowledge, mastery of practical skills, access to new sources of funding and other types of support, development of entrepreneurial spirit, or, on the support partners’ side – strengthening and perfecting their capacities for supporting entrepreneurship and innovation.”
The Mayor, Marko Kovacevic, emphasized that the local government is implementing a series of projects aimed at encouraging entrepreneurship development at the local level. “This will, in perspective, result in a lower unemployment rate, which is particularly important to us, and a higher rate of employable and actively working individuals, with an emphasis on young people whose future we aim to build in this city. Among the projects we have implemented this year is certainly the CRAFTINNO project, which we are carrying out in cooperation with ‘Tehnopolis’ which is excellent, and which focuses on supporting craftsmanship, primarily focused on ten companies at different stages of development. Our goal was to enable our fellow citizens through logistical and professional support to adequately develop their business and create space for entrepreneurship support.”
Project Manager “Norway for You – Montenegro”, Armen Cekic, highlighted that the Kingdom of Norway has been supporting the development of small businesses in Niksic for the third consecutive year through this project, particularly in transforming their business operations by introducing innovations in the production process. “I am pleased to see some industries making a comeback, as demonstrated by this project. I am also glad that Montenegro recognizes the importance of technology and that keeping up with technology is very important for the economic growth of a country. I hope that in the coming period, there will be more connections between the scientific and economic sectors and that we will see more of these fusions producing concrete results, products, and technologies with which Montenegro can be competitive. Lastly, I would like to thank my colleagues from Tehnopolis and the Municipality of Niksic for the successfully implemented project, and it has been a pleasure to collaborate with them.”
The Executive Director of IEC Tehnopolis, Djordjije Malovic, welcomed the attendees and wished the Fair visitors a warm welcome. He emphasized the project users’ dedication and highlighted the openness of the training participants, their willingness to accept positive changes, and the application of innovations as an integral part of these changes. “With every product that has been created and will be created thanks to participation in the CRAFTINNO project, our satisfaction will grow, primarily because we had the opportunity to support them in this way. I believe that the successfully implemented project has sown the seed of something that should become traditional and that we will have more such opportunities in the spirit of excellent cooperation with the Municipality of Niksic and the Ministry of Science and Technological Development in the future.” On this occasion, Mr. Malovic announced support for 10 project users for further introduction and application of innovations in production processes. Thanks to this activity, the users will have access to materials purchased through the CRAFTINNO project worth nearly 18,500 euros and services of the TechLab Tehnopolis worth over 20,000 euros.
Project Manager CRAFTINNO, Miljana Pekovic, at the opening of the event, said: “The Craftsmanship Fair has gathered us today to demonstrate what is like Tehnopolis’s work, which is to encourage the development of entrepreneurship through innovations, to build the capacities of entrepreneurs for the introduction of innovations, but also our capacities for providing support to businesses at different levels of development. This project allowed us to do so by applying 3D and CNC technologies to concrete products and the production processes of small businesses engaged in craftsmanship. It may seem like a demanding process, but believe me, it is far more demanding than it looks.” Pekovic highlighted the good cooperation with the local government in implementing activities and expressed gratitude to the donor for approving the project and ongoing support, as well as to the participants who have diligently learned and worked over the past eight months.
At the CRAFTINNO Craftsmanship Fair, small businesses engaged in craftsmanship, either directly or indirectly, had the opportunity to present their products, which were the result of using modern 3D and CNC production technologies.
During the 9 months of the CRAFTINNO project implementation, entrepreneurs who participated in the project acquired knowledge and skills necessary for improving production processes today, through three trainings in 3D modeling and printing and five trainings in CNC programming and processing of softer and harder materials. All practical trainings were conducted on equipment owned by IPC Tehnopolis as part of the industrial design laboratory – TechLab Tehnopolis.
To ensure the application of the acquired knowledge and skills by the project participants, the Municipality of Niksic, as a partner in the project, organized three Info Days on support programs conducted by them as the local government, the Ministry of Economic Development and Tourism of Montenegro, and the Ministry of Science and Technological Development of Montenegro. With the same goal, the last activity of the CRAFTINNO project will be the provision of twelve months of support for ten small businesses, which will start on the last day of the project implementation, November 30th, 2022. Through this support, the project users will have the opportunity to use materials that were purchased for this purpose as part of the project, as well as the capacities of the TechLab Tehnopolis in terms of using 3D and CNC equipment and consulting support from the employees.
The CRAFTINNO project was implemented to increase the competitiveness of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in the field of craftsmanship in Montenegro through education and support in introducing innovations into the production process in ten small businesses from Montenegro, as well as by informing them about potential sources of funding for entrepreneurship development.
