The Republic of Montenegro, located in the southwest of the Balkan Peninsula and on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, is an important country along the "Belt and Road" route. Recently, the north-south high-speed project of the Republic of Montenegro, which was constructed by China Road and Bridge Group, successfully completed the Vientnik Tunnel, which is more than 5891 meters long and is the longest tunnel in the whole line of the project. The Republic of Montenegro is a mountainous country, and the roads are mainly winding mountain roads. The poor road conditions restrict the transportation of forestry, agriculture and animal husbandry products from the northern part of Montenegro to the coastal areas and neighboring countries. It is also hindered by transportation. The economic development of the northern part is backward, and the widening gap between the rich and the poor in the north and south produces many unbalanced and unstable factors.

The North-South Expressway Project of the Republic of Montenegro connects the port of Bar to the border of Serbia. It is the largest infrastructure project with the largest investment since the independence of Montenegro in 2006. After completion, it will be integrated into the international highway network and connect many countries in Central Europe. It is of great significance to promote the economic development of the Republic of Montenegro. The expressway is designed to be 180 kilometers long and built in five sections, crossing mountains from south to north, with bridges and tunnels accounting for about 60% of the total route. Among,China Road and Bridge Corporation undertook the construction of 41 kilometers, including 18.3 kilometers of tunnels and 6.25 kilometers of bridges, with a total value of 809 million euros, of which 85% was financed by the Export-Import Bank of China and 15% by local financing. The high-speed project was signed in 2014 and began to speed up construction in 2017 after initial approval. A total of 233 million euros were invested in 2017 and 120 million euros in the first two quarters of 2018.According to the statistics of the Republic of Montenegro, with the project construction fully on track, the economic growth rate of Montenegro increased from 3.1% to 4.7%; the unemployment rate dropped from 17.4% in the first quarter of 2017 to 14.8% in the third quarter. The highway is expected to be completed in 2019. After it is opened to traffic, the time from the capital Podgorica to the northern city of Kolasin will be shortened to about 30 minutes. At the same time, expressway will bring the cities and towns along the line into the half-hour economic circle of the capital, which is also of great significance to promote the domestic tourism, transportation industry and economic development of Montenegro.

In recent years, the Republic of Montenegro has invested heavily in infrastructure construction and transportation networks. Prime Minister Markovic said that the North-South expressway is the most important infrastructure project to drive the country's future economic development, and its completion has important political, economic and social significance for the development of the Republic of Montenegro, and is a historic project benefiting the local people. Belan, the national coordinator of Montenegro's "16 + 1" cooperation mechanism, said that the "Belt and Road" initiative and the "16 + 1" cooperation have brought development opportunities to Montenegro.To help Montenegro realize its strategic goals and development vision, Montenegro attaches great importance to participating in the "Belt and Road" initiative and "16 + 1" cooperation. According to a previous article published on the Balkan Research website, China is becoming an increasingly important partner of the Balkan countries, and China's infrastructure investment in Montenegro has benefited each other. According to the analysis of the Balkan Watch website, China's "Belt and Road" initiative has brought opportunities to the region, has been widely welcomed by the region, and will play a greater role in the development of the region in the future. (This newspaper, Rome, July 30)