"WTCA Europe Regional Conference 2025“ was held between 15 and 17 June in Sofia, Bulgaria

Day 1

In the three days between 15 and 17 June 2025, Sofia was the meeting point of leaders in industry, innovators and visionaries who gathered from the whole of Europe. More than 30 representatives of the World Trade Centers in Armenia, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Turkey and France participated in thematic seminars and presentations of world-famous lecturers who shared their views on the latest trends and future developments in the field of real estate and global trade.

The event was opened by Tsvetan Simeonov, President of BCCI, who welcomed colleagues from 15 countries. The meeting was part of marking the 130^th anniversary of the establishment of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The meeting was also attended by the newest members of WTCA (the World Trade Centers Association), coming from Europe – the WTC Belgrade and WTC Sarajevo. The President of BCCI granted Licences to the two World Trade Centers on the first day of the European meeting.

WTC Sarajevo joined the WTCA family in October 2024. Its Licence is held by MDC Group, an international company with headquarters in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Founded in 2006, the Company is active in different sectors, including engineering, consultations, tourism, finances, the energy industry and agriculture, among others. There is an ambitious plan for the Building of WTC Sarajevo which is located in the heart of the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Earlier this year, WTC Belgrade also joined the Association. Its Licence is held by our partners from the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. WTC Belgrade has set a target to become a central hub for the businesses, coming to Belgrade and Serbia, and a place to connect partners, hold events and generate innovative ideas in a modern and professional environment. Our colleagues in Belgrade plan to open the Center's doors at the time of Expo 2027.

The second day of the Conference included holding interactive workshops and panel discussions, intended to provide practical knowledge and innovative solutions to the challenges, faced by companies today. The focus was on the sectors of the automotive industry, energy and renewable sources, as well as artificial intelligence.

Day 2

On Day 2, the Management of World Trade Center Sofia acquainted the colleagues with its activity and with its Building, as well as with Interpred Boyana and Interpred Tsar Boris. The Company, managing the Center, engages in renting out offices, commercial areas, parking lots and conference halls, as well as in organising business meetings and trade missions and providing services, intended for the business sector.

Besides, a Workshop was held on the following topic: Value added by the services provided by the World Trade Centers in Europe.

In Sofia Tech Park, the participants in the meeting saw a Laboratory for producing prototypes of robots used in industry. They got acquainted with a supercomputer, called DISCOVERER, which is among the leaders in terms of its computing power. DISCOVERER is a proof of our country's commitment to develop the high-performance computations. It is co-financed by the Joint Undertaking for European High-Performance Computing (EuroHPC JU) and by the Bulgarian government. It is among the 500 best supercomputers in the world. With its powerful structure and state-of-the-art technologies, DISCOVERER is devoted to encouraging innovations, doing cutting-edge scientific research and fostering the next generation of IT talents. 80% of its capacity is used for free. Both Bulgarian and foreign companies can use the capacities of that machine.

The Meeting’s Programme also included a discussion of the opportunities in Europe for regional integration and economic development, presented by Dr Krassen Stanchev, an Economist, Founder and Chairman of the Institute for Market Economics and Member of the BCCI Board of Directors. He examined the current political uncertainty worldwide as a factor, affecting the economy of Europe and the region. According to Dr Stanchev, in a few years, this uncertainty will disappear and Europe has to work more closely with the nearby regions and its eastern neighbours in order to gain greater benefits and achieve competitiveness. He paid attention to the fact that all countries in this expanded European region participate in some shared or partially limited free trade zones. He recommended developing the relationships with the purpose of increasing the free movement of goods and services.

Dr Stanchev also noted that in the period 2000–2022, Bulgaria, Romania, the countries from the Baltic region and Ireland recorded a seven-time faster growth in the economy. This fact shows that there is capacity to keep the tempo of growth and achieve better performance in these countries.

The role of the European World Trade Centers in regional integration and economic development was presented by Nicholas Beaty, Coordinator of the Rennes Bretagne World Trade Center, and Patricia Moinard from WTC Metz-Saarbrücken.