BCCI President Tsvetan Simeonov hosted the sixth meeting of the Club of Joint and Foreign Chambers in Bulgaria
Twelve representatives of joint and foreign business organizations which have offices in Bulgaria took part in the meeting. The main theme of the meeting was the Councils with the President of the Republic of Bulgaria. BCCI as an organization of businesses and employers participates in the sittings of the Councils and shares the opinions of its members at a wider representative forum, which includes Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Regional Governors, representatives of the trade unions, the employers’ and non-governmental organizations, Chairmen of the Parliamentary Committees for Regional Policy and Local Government, for Environment and Waters, for Transport, IT and Telecommunications, and for Agriculture and Forestry, MPs.
Six councils with the President of the Republic of Bulgaria will operate: Regional Development and National Infrastructure Council; Legal Council; Science and Education Council; Foreign Policy, Defense and Security Council; Economic Development and Social Policy Council; and Faith, Culture and National Identity Council.
The first session of the Regional Development and National Infrastructure Council with President Plevneliev was held on 18 April 2012. The participants in the Council will seek consensus on six key areas to be funded by the EU in the next programming period 2014 – 2020, namely: transport infrastructure, technical infrastructure in the water sector, e-Government, energy efficiency and housing policy, creating prerequisites for balanced development of towns and cities, and innovation and competitiveness of SMEs.
On 3 May 2012, the first session of the Economic Development and Social Policy Council will take place. Competitiveness and investment priorities will be included in the Council’s agenda.
The members of the Club of Joint and Foreign Chambers were invited to share opinions on the country’s priorities for development.
Mr. Tsvetan Simeonov informed the representatives of joint and foreign chambers of BCCI’s position to be expressed during the discussion and said that BCCI supports the view that the entire economy, and not only specific sectors of industry, needs to be stimulated in order to create a healthy economic environment.
Mr. Marc Debels, Director for Bulgaria of the French Agency for International Business Development “UBIFRANCE” made a presentation of the organization, whose Sofia office was opened in the beginning of the year. The main goal of UBIFRANCE – Bulgaria is to assist and promote cooperation between Bulgarian and French companies in various sectors of economy.
Mr. Debels paid special attention to the upcoming forum “France meets South Eastern Europe in Sofia!”, which will take place in the period 4 – 6 July 2012 in Hilton Hotel, Sofia. An impressive delegation of 50 French companies is expected to attend our country. Companies from 13 South-Eastern European countries have been invited to the forum.