BSTDB Holds its Annual Meeting and the Black Sea Business Day in Thessaloniki on June 1 & 2, 2003
Press Release | 19-May-2003
The 5th Annual Meeting of the BSTDB Board of Governors and the Black Sea Business Day 2003 will be held on June 1 and 2, 2003 at the Makedonia Palace Hotel, Thessaloniki. The event will be among the most important regional business conferences in South Eastern Europe. This year, the Black Sea Business Day is supported by the Greek EU Presidency.
The 2003 Black Sea Business Day will address some of the most important development issues in the Black Sea Region: promoting projects and regional cooperation in the fields of industry and energy, and also ways to mobilize external (mostly European) financing to the region. Capitalizing on the success of the Black Sea Business Day held last year, the event is expected to attract about 400 participants coming from approximately 25 countries of the Black Sea area and Western Europe, as well as from the EU and major international financial institutions active in the region.
The Black Sea Business Day will be inaugurated on Sunday, June 1st, at 19:00 at the Royal Theatre. H.E. Mr. George Papandreou, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, and H.E. Mr. Valeri Chechelashvili, Secretary General of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation will address the participants. A high-level representative of the European Commission is also expected to take the floor at the ceremony.
The next day, Monday June 2, the Black Sea Business Day will start with an Opening Session. The invited key speakers include H.E. Mr. Nikolay Vassilev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of the Republic of Bulgaria, H.E. Mr. Mihai Nicolae Tanasescu, Minister of Public Finance of Romania, and H.E. Mr. Akis Tsochatzopoulos, Minister of Development of the Hellenic Republic. The opening ministerial statements will be an introduction to the business-oriented discussions in the subsequent three round tables.
Apart from the round table discussions and business meetings that will be held during the Black Sea Business Day, BSTDB expects to announce the conclusion of a number of new loan agreements for major projects in the Black Sea Region. The Bank also plans to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the European Commission and other major IFIs on cooperation in financing projects in the EU pre-accession countries that are also members of BSTDB: Bulgaria, Romania and Türkiye.