The annual meeting of the Italian Chamber of Commercein Bulgaria was held at the Novotel in Sofia on March 28th. During the meeting, the President Marco Montecchi along with the Secretary General Rosa Cusmano supported by the whole Chamber’s staff showed to the members the results achieved in 2017 and the goals set for the current year.
The occasion was attended by the Deputy Chief of Mission and the Head of the Economic and Commercial Office of the Italian Embassy in Sofia, Emanuele Pollio who thanked the President Montecchi for the invitation and congratulating Secretary General and all the Chamber’s staff for the constant commitment in the development of events to promote Made in Italy in the country, for the active and real participation in the recurring meetings of the Country System, for the organization, with extremely positive results in quantitative and qualitative terms, of the various business networking initiatives carried out in the 2017 and aimed to promote more and more business contacts between the two business communities, for the synergistic approach in the realization of promotional events for the Brand Italia in close cooperation with all the players of the Italian System in Bulgaria, as well as for the assistance of Italian enterprises interested in the Bulgarian market.
Regarding the 2018 promotional plan, the Deputy Chief of Mission and the Head of the Economic and Commercial Office of the Italian Embassy in Sofia, Cons. Emanuele Pollio took the opportunity to highlight how the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria will promote along with many scheduled projects, the “3rd Edition of the Italian Film Festival in Bulgaria” confirming the inclusion of this project in the international macro-initiative promoted by MiBACT in collaboration with Maeci called “Italian Film Week in the World”. Furthermore, the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria will collaborate with the Confindustria Bulgaria Association for the organization of the side events and conventions inside the Italian Pavilion which is managed and financed by ITA Agency of Sofia, of the WEBIT FESTIVAL EUROPE fair and will continue for third consecutive year, promotional activities for the Italian Cuisine Week in the World and in the spread of Italian Living together with all the players of the Italian promotion in the country.
In the opening stage, the President, at the beginning of the meeting, gave particular thanks to all the associates in particular to the Supporting Members Alias Group of Bulgaria, Alpetrans, Consorzio 906, EDM Insurance Broker, EPU-European Polytechnical University , Mc Donald’s Bulgaria, Penkov Markov & Partners and Timako Work Agency for having shown themselves to be dynamic, proactive and collaborative for the realization of the activities, the Secretary General and all the staff of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria for the great effort in awaiting the prefixed objectives for 2017 that is the implementation of promotional activities and projects aimed to support the internationalization of Italian enterprises on the Bulgarian market, the involvement of the many Bulgarian economic players in different business meetings in Italy, in the field of the major Italian trade fair, the implementation of activities for the presentation of proposals and partnership with local, European and international players in the field of European planning , the increase in communication and information activities and the increase of services to Italian companies.
Thanks also to new supporting members Alias Group Bulgaria, Alpetrans Bulgaria, Confartigianato Imprese Caserta, EDM Insurance Broker, EPU European Polytechnical University, Ferrerigroup Bulgaria, Penkov Markov & Partners, Timako Work Agency for standing close to the Chamber structure in the implementation of the 2018 activities and projects.
Moreover, the President mentioned the initiatives of social business networking carried out in 2017 such as the Italian French Chambers Tennis Tournament of May 28th , 2017, the “2nd Edition of the Italian Film Festival in Bulgaria – a journey through cinema, tourism and food and wine: meetings, showing, workshop and promotional events for a Festival dedicated to the excellence of Puglia Region” held from 19 to 23 June 2017 and the 4th Edition of “Masterpiece of World Opera, on the occasion of Christmas Celebrations” of December 14, 2017 in Sofia that represent an important moment for business contacts between Italian, French, Bulgarian and European communities business with a total and reconfirmed presence of 3,500 participants.
A special note on the “2nd edition of the Italian Film Festival in Bulgaria” sponsored by the Councilor for Tourism and Cultural Industry – Management and Valorization of the Cultural Goods lawyer Loredana Capone, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Italian Embassy in Sofia and the Municipality of Sofia and set up in close cooperation with Apulia Film Commission, Puglia Promozione and with the Bulgarian National Film Center of Sofia, the National Palace of Culture in Sofia and the Nu Boyana Film Studios, the most important set of the Balkans area. The President has informed how the 2018 edition will be marked by activities of film promotion, tourism and other food & wine excellence of Italian quality from Puglia Region and the involvement of Puglia Region and of the whole Puglia regional institutional system with a view to continuity of promotional activities of Italy in Bulgaria.
Furthermore, the President invited the participants to watch the institutional video of the Association of the Italian Chambers of Commerce Abroad – Assomercatoestero, realized in English by the CCIB and launched as a world preview in occasion of the European Conference “EURONET-Italian Networking around Europe: Innovation and Internationalization in Digital Society within the Bulgarian Presidency of EC 2018” promoted and organized by the Chamber Structure itself on March12, 2018.
Moreover the Secretary General illustrated the financial statement preview and the related activities plan for 2018, highlighting the importance of continuity of the promotional activities through the development of many projects for the Made in Italy promotion to support the spread all over the country of the food & wine, technological, cultural, athletic and artistic excellence as continuation of the activities realized in the past years, some of whom will be integral part of the System Country initiatives (and cites the 2nd edition the of Italian Design Day in the World, the 1ST Edition of the Italian Film Week in the world, the 15th edition of the Italian Festival in Bulgaria and the 3rd edition of the Italian Cuisine Week in the World).
In addition and in relation to the 2018 promotional activity program, the Secretary General informed all the participants about the implementation of the last stage of the international project “Chamber Mentoring for International Growth – the international experience of a network of Italics available for SME”, promote and co-funded by Unioncamere as part of the 2016 Inter-Action Intervention Fund in collaboration with Assocamerestero and recalling that of the 42 projects proposals presented to Unioncamere, 29 were Italian Chamber of Commerce Abroad: Aarhus, Barcelona, Belo Horizonte, Brussels, Bucharest, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Florianopolis, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Luxembourg, Madrid, Marseille, Montreal, Moscow, Mumbai, Prague, Sao Paulo, Sharjah-Dubai, Sofia, Vancouver, Zurich e Czech Republic.
In conclusion, as said before by the Cons. Emanuele Pollio, the Secretary General highlighted the important participation of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria to promotion and communication, organization and management activities together with ICE Agency promoter of Sofia and to the partner Confindustria Bulgaria, of the Italian Pavilion at the WEBIT FESTIVAL EUROPE event, Enterprises, Policies , Startups (http://www.webit.bg/2018/), one of the most influent event of business networking in Europe on the topics of digital innovation technology supported by the European Commission and traditionally supported by the President of Republic of Bulgaria and the Mayor of Sofia on 26 and 27 June, at the conclusion of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
The unanimity of those present showed a strong stability of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria, confirmed and built with commitment and dedication, since its inception.
Finally, the President welcomed the new members of the Board of Directors, lawyer Giuseppe Saccone and Dr. Dino Tolfo, thanking them for the proactivity already demonstrated in the last years and wishing a fruitful work for 2018, together with the Secretary General and all the staff of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria.
