BCCI took over the presidency of the Association of Balkan Chambers for 2021

On 30 November, the annual general assembly of the Association of Balkan Chambers (ABC) was held in an electronic environment. The Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, as one of the founders of the organization in 1994, was represented by its President Tsvetan Simeonov. He thanked the hosts from Bosnia and Herzegovina for the good organization and pointed out that in those difficult times we must continue to work for the benefit of companies.

Tsvetan Simeonov drew attention to the digitalized services of the BCCI, namely to the fact that BCCI was the 11^th chamber in the world, accredited by the ICC International CO Accreditation Chain to issue certificates of origin, and the Chamber’s achievements in the field of commercial arbitration using digital technologies. BCCI is ready to share its experience in these areas.

Simeonov said that on the occasion of its 125^th anniversary, the BCCI has prepared a documentary which will be shared with its partners from ABC in 2021, as well as a jubilee postage stamp with a first day cover.

The event was hosted by Vjekoslav Vukovic, President of the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which holds the ABC presidency in 2020. He outlined important trends in trade in the region, as well as the joint work of ABC business organizations from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia, Romania, Turkey and Montenegro. He reported that Bosnia and Herzegovina’s trade with the Balkan countries has dropped 27% this year compared to 2019. Serbia is a leading foreign trade partner for this period. According to Vukovic, the strong good neighborly relations and business traditions in the region are the reason why amid the global health crisis the decrease in trade is smaller than expected.

The presidents of the chambers of commerce and industry participating in the ABC General Assembly agreed that the dialogue and exchange of information between them is excellent. It is necessary to promote the region as a whole, with its good connectivity, communication, appropriate macroeconomic environment and specific strengths. Serious attention was paid to the achievements of the chambers of commerce in the field of digitalization - both in terms of services provided to companies and in the implementation of a number of joint projects.

At the end of the event, the President of BCCI Tsvetan Simeonov assumed the presidency of the Association of Balkan Chambers for next year. He pointed out that the main priorities in 2021 will be: synergy to overcome the crisis, supporting the development of cluster organizations in the region, digitalization of the chambers of commerce in service of companies.

In the programme for next year, BCCI will set a series of virtual events aimed at stimulating bilateral and multilateral trade, economic and investment ties, sharing experience between the chambers of commerce and industry for digital services, development of clusters in the region, etc.

The priorities and the programme of ABC will be presented in the beginning of next year.