The Hellenic Business Council in Bulgaria in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in Athens organized a Meeting of Owners and Representatives of Greek companies actively present in Bulgaria with Their Excellencies, the Presidents of the Republics of Bulgaria and Greece, Mr. Rosen Plevneliev and Mr. Karolos Papoulias.
The Meeting took place in Athens on the 5th of July, 2012, in the context of the official visit of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria in Greece. The Ambassador of Bulgaria in Athens, H.E. Mrs. Emilia Kraleva, and the Ambassador of Greece in Sofia, H.E. Mr. Thrasyvoulos Stamatopoulos, were also present.
While welcoming the two Presidents to the Business Breakfast, the Chairman of the Hellenic Business Council in Bulgaria, Mr. Stamatios Theodoropoulos, highlighted the fact that the Bulgarian President comes from the business world and both as Minister and President favors entrepreneurship and constantly seeks to attract and facilitate the investments in the country. Greek President Mr. Karolos Papoulias on the other hand, has played, both as Minister for Foreign Affairs and representative of the Hellenic Parliament, an important role for strengthening the relations between Greece and Bulgaria and for Bulgaria's progress towards joining the EU, Mr. Theodoropoulos added.
Mr. Rosen Plevneliev, on his part, referred to the special and strategic relationship that has evolved between Greece and Bulgaria in recent years and to the special role of Greek enterprises in the Bulgarian economy. At the same time, he outlined the main aspects of the program "Bulgaria 2020" as well as the actions of the Bulgarian Government to attract investments, to build up e-government, to battle bureaucracy and to boost transparency.
Mr. Karolos Papoulias noted that despite the economic crisis, Greece remains one of the 40 strongest economies worldwide and the third largest foreign investor in Bulgaria with investments exceeding 3 billion euros. Mr. Papoulias also announced the decision of both countries to join a new meeting of the Supreme Council of Cooperation between Greece and Bulgaria next October.
It is worth mentioning that yesterday's new successful initiative of the Hellenic Business Council in Bulgaria follows the recent highly successful meeting of the Bulgarian President Mr. Rosen Plevneliev with Greek businessmen on April 26th, 2012, in Sofia.
HBCB greatly appreciates the kind support of Alpha Bank, Globul, UBB and Germanos.