Podgorica, 21 March 2025 – Creative Gate (creative-gate.org), a regional digital platform for cultural and creative industries actors in the Western Balkans, was officially launched today in Podgorica.
Developed in cooperation with EXIT Foundation and the Macedonian Taksirat Festival, the platform creates a digital space for connecting creative organizations and businesses, artists, cultural centres across the region. “Creative Gate” offers opportunities for business cooperation and exchange of ideas, with a vision of positioning the Balkans as one of the global centres of creativity and creative businesses.
Through the “Creative Gate” platform, which is part of the project “Culture and Creativity for the Western Balkans” (CC4WBs), funded by the European Union and implemented by UNESCO, the British Council and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), creative people have the opportunity to connect with investors and partners. The platform also allows them to improve their public presence, business and contribute to strengthening the socio-economic impact of creative industries, creating a sustainable and inclusive creative environment in the region.
At the conference on the occasion of the presentation of the new platform, the attendees were addressed by Majlinda Mazelliu, Director of the British Council Albania, Ivan Petrovic, President of the Board of Directors of EXIT Foundation and Branimir Bukilić, President of the Board of Directors of the ICT Cluster Cortex, who presented the vision of “Creative Gate” as a space that connects cultural and creative industries and strengthens regional synergy.
“Creative industries, together with the ICT sector, are the greatest development opportunity of our region, both for economic development and for retaining talents in this region. Regional association is needed in order to create a favourable environment for the further development of this very fragmented, but totally large sector”, said Ivan Petrovic, President of the Board of Directors of EXIT Foundation.
“We are extremely pleased that today we have the opportunity to present an initiative funded by the European Union, which recognizes the great potential of cultural and creative industries in the region. This platform opens the door for artists, creatives, professionals and organizations from the field of culture and creative industries to dive into the digital space of Creative Gate, which will allow them to promote their work, conceive new ideas, connect with each other, as well as with new regional and global markets in creating new projects and collaborations. We believe that this joint venture plays a significant role in fostering cultural exchange, innovation and sustainable economic growth in the Western Balkans,” said Majlinda Mazelliu, Director of the British Council in Albania.
“The key to further progress lies in regional cooperation and connectivity, because only by working together can we create a favourable environment for the growth of these sectors. Creative Gate is an important step in this direction, and ICT Cortex will continue to support initiatives that strengthen this synergy and contribute to the development of a sustainable, digitally empowered creative economy in the region. This is supported by the fact that we will soon open the first Game Dev centre in Montenegro”, said Branimir Bukilić, President of the Board of Directors of the ICT Cluster Cortex
As part of the event, a lecture “Intellectual Capital in a Changing World and the Importance of Business Pooling” was presented by Miloš Milovanović, an international consultant in the field of destination marketing and conference business. Through a dynamic presentation and conversation with the attendees, Milovanović emphasized the importance of intellectual capital as a key factor of competitiveness in the modern world, which is constantly and rapidly changing. Special emphasis was placed on the importance of cooperation and association of business entities through cluster models, innovative hubs and regional creative business platforms, such as Creative Gate. These initiatives are the key mechanisms for successful integration into the global flows of the digital and creative economy.
