News

An informational meeting with representatives of regional administration and business was held on 14.12.2021 in the seminar hall of Bansko municipality. The meeting was organized in the framework of the project "Business Council- BC 6275" funded by the INTERREG V/A GREECE-BULGARIA 2014-2020, Subsidy contract № B6.3a.18/13.04.2021. The meeting was attended by the deputy mayor of Bansko municipality, the president of the municipal council and representatives of the chamber of craftsmen and the association of hoteliers and business.

First attendees of the event started to arrive at 13:50. Among them were representatives of the chamber of craftsmen, chamber of hoteliers and restaurateurs, representatives of several local companies engaged in production and trade of food products. On behalf of the local administration, the meeting was attended by the Deputy Mayor of Bansko Municipality, the Director of the European Funding Directorate and the President of Bansko Municipal Council. At the beginning of the meeting, the Deputy Mayor was given the opportunity to make a brief presentation welcoming the participants and expressing his gratitude to the organisers for holding the event in the municipality of Bansko.
A thorough presentation of the INTERREG programme was made. The presentation of the programme was followed by a description of the beneficiary with its good practices and factual orientation in public affairs. The project partners, their profile and public affairs focus were explained. In the course of the presentation, the concept of business councils, their mandate, their vision and what they will be doing was presented. The focus of the presentation was the benefits that a business council can bring to the business community.
Following this, time was taken to introduce the potential participants in a business council, specifically representatives from various industry bodies, municipal/regional administration and business representatives. It was explained that there is no charge for participation and the administrative functioning will be provided by the beneficiary.
There was a brief discussion on the credentials of the business councils as this sparked people's interest as to how far their authority could go and how far their public role could be strengthened.
A conversation was raised about when exactly the business councils would start working because this is a chance to improve the micro environment.
Attendees brought up several key topics that are conflicting for the restaurant and hospitality industry and artisans. They expressed that there is a lack of a tourism product that connects them to each other in a way that supports tourism development in the municipality. They expressed approval of the concept presented for the functioning of the business councils, the focus being precisely the organizational support that the project beneficiary will provide for their successful functioning. The Director of European Funding asked a question related to the cross-border effect of the councils and how exactly it will be achieved. The topic was elaborated by a representative of the beneficiary and a short discussion took place.During the coffee-break the Deputy Mayor of the municipality expressed his wish that Bansko municipality would participate as an active member of the business councils.
Following the coffee break, the main discussion was about the participants of the councils, their profiles and the way to be as useful as possible to solve their problem.
Contact information with RISK NGO was provided shortly before the end of the event, including email, phone, address, website,<br>
Due to the great interest, a request was made at the end, and the beneficiary made a commitment, to contact the participants present at today's meeting once the business councils are actually constituted.<br>
After the closing of the event, a representative of the beneficiary and the moderator had a few informal personal conversations with business representatives who wished to establish personal contact regarding the formation of the councils and their inclusion in them.

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