July 24 (SeeNews) - Montenegro's government plans to invest 25.5 million euro ($29.6 million) in the establishment of a virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) innovation centre as part of measures to support the country's economic recovery following the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, science minister Sanja Damjanovic said.
The investment is part of a 30 million euro financial package adopted by the Montenegrin government to back the economy by 2024, Damjanovic said in a statement on Thursday.
The government also plans to invest 300,000 euro in the establishment of a strategic IT cluster, 150,000 euro in the launch of an e-commerce support centre, 339,000 euro in public sector innovations, 500,000 euro in support to innovative startups, and encourage the introduction of global online payment systems in Montenegro, Damjanovic noted.
"The measures aim to make the IT sector a new strong industry, with high export potential, and to ensure that the IT economy and digitalisation act as catalysts for the development of an innovative economy that will strengthen our traditionally strong industries - energy, tourism and agriculture - in support of Montenegro's digital transformation," Damjanovic said.
Earlier on Thursday, Montenegro's prime minister Dusko Markovic presented a 1.22 billion euro financial package aimed at supporting the economic recovery of the country in the next four years.
($ = 0.8615 euro)