Bitola mayor Toni Konjanovski signed a memorandum of understanding in Budva that brings the Zhabeni industrial zone into the new Western Balkans - European Union Industrial Parks Partnership. According to the Municipality of Bitola, Zhabeni is the only zone from the country among the signatories.

In total, seven industrial parks and business zones from the region signed memoranda with partner organisations from the Union. The ceremony was organised by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) and the Chamber of Economy of Montenegro, with support from the European Commission, on the sidelines of the Montenegro Economic Conference 2026 and as part of Montenegro's chairmanship of the Berlin Process.

On paper the goals are clear: business links between Balkan zones and zones in the EU, supplier development, investment promotion, innovation, skills and better management of industrial parks. Special emphasis is on eco-industrial parks - more efficient use of resources, circular economy and cleaner energy sources. The initiative is part of the Common Regional Market Action Plan 2025-2028.

"Today we are establishing contacts. Tomorrow we build business ties," said RCC Secretary General Amer Kapetanovic. It sounds good. But how many memoranda in the Balkans have been signed in front of the cameras and then never opened again?

The press releases do not mention money at all - the partnership offers contacts, cooperation and an exchange of practices. Whether a European company will open a plant in Zhabeni, and whether Bitola firms will get into European supply chains, will depend on how well the municipality and the state use the door that has now been opened. Next year the question will not be what was signed, but what was built.