20 Years Sliven Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Tsvetan Simeonov: As far as the system of Chambers of commerce is concerned, I would only like to clarify that we indeed assisted restoring the system of chambers of commerce in Bulgaria, but above all we wanted (this was the vision of our management back then) to see whether there was enough critical mass of serious Bulgarian companies willing to restore the Chamber, and only after they had taken the decision to do this on their own, we lent them our support.

We mark 20 years of the existence of Sliven Chamber of Commerce and Industry and as small and modest society as it may seem within the system of chambers of commerce, you are part of a very large system. You are entitled to be proud because you are part of the system of BCCI, which has existed for 117 years now and which is part of the system of European chambers of commerce – the oldest chambers in the world. Thus, you are part of the system of world chambers of commerce, seated in Paris, which includes the oldest chamber – Marseilles Chamber, which is over 400 years old.

I would like to give you confidence by reminding you that only in Europe – the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry, in whose General Assembly we will participate on Monday – there are 1400 chambers of commerce from 47 countries. These are chambers from all EU member-states, a lot of former Soviet republics, including Israel. Chambers have always moved forward, because trade moves forward, because merchants need to open the borders – something which is much more difficult for politicians to do.

We should be proud of the system whose members we are. We have opportunities for other important relations within the other associations, of which we have managed to become members in recent years. The Association of World Trade Centers includes over 200 trade centers. We restored the Association of Balkan Chambers (ABC), which we have presided over this year. Now I can even say that I congratulate you for your anniversary on behalf of ABC.

The doors of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry are always open for every businessman, because as members of Sliven Chamber of Commerce you are part of the system of BCCI. Sometimes you alone may not realize what abilities the Chamber has, so get in contact with us – with mutual efforts we can solve your problems.

Lately, we have been hearing not so good things about entrepreneurs. Starting from the labour unions, through governmental institutions, which think that the business must be constantly inspected, and more precisely – transparent companies, because it is harder for them to inspect the grey or black sector of economy. That is why, in addition to seeking assistance, we need to improve the image of Bulgarian entrepreneurs. We often say that the whole society should kiss the hand of people who took up entrepreneurship – when we see a nice company, we should know that it didn’t fall from the sky, it was established with a lot of work, a lot of suffering, a lot of efforts, understanding, sleepless nights, a lot of nerves and by overcoming all sorts of hardships. That is why I would like to wish business representatives from Sliven a lot of success and tell them that they have strong support in the face of BCCI and Sliven CCI.

22.10.2011