Montenegro Prime Minister Milo Dukanović announced today that the state has inked a definitive agreement to co-develop a luxury tourism resort with the government of the United Arab Emirates, which is located in the southeastern part of Montenegro. Dukanović made the announcement after the country has hosted the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Dukanović also revealed in his statement that the Investment and Development Fund of Abu Dhabi has several projects being implemented with Montenegro. Dukanović has been vague about the rest of the details of the agreement, including if and how much the state of Abu Dhabi will invest in Montenegro via its sovereign wealth fund.
Nahyan is the managing director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), its proper name for its sovereign wealth fund, which was built for the purpose of placing bets on behalf of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi government. It manages its over $500 billion in excess oil reserves of the emirate, and sees its portfolio growing at a 10% compounded rate annually. Because of its substantial amounts of capital, it is said that its sovereign fund is one of the larger investment funds in the world, and had been influential in the international finance markets because of its massive fund size.
Dukanović also added that the agreement with Abu Dhabi was only the beginning of many more. "There are significant cooperation projects in the fields of tourism, transport and food production we are planning to implement," he added.
According to Prince Mohammed, the United Arab Emirates thinks of Montenegro as a hospitable country that has good economical prospects for its future, and the the country should count the Middle Eastern region for its full support.
The Montenegro prime minister's statement on its website also shared that both officials had exchanged their views on global and regional developments, and the progress of Montenegro in its integration processes.
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