Events

• Finance Minister Milen Velchev held business meetings in the US and Canada
• A Russian trade house was officially opened in Sofia
• Sofia’s New Acquisition – A Modern Bus Terminal

North American-Bulgarian Chamber Of Commerce, Sofia Branch “A Personal Approach to Business”

2 Right to left: Mrs. Anna Koevska, director Cultural and Charitable Programs, NABCC; Architect Goergi Bakalov, chairman of the Consultative Board of NABCC; Mr. Bozhidar Tomalevski, director of the organization for Bulgaria; Mr. Emil Dimitroff, executive director of NABCC; Mr. Joseph Halbherr, director Investments in Tourism, NABCC and general manager of Kempinski-Zografski Hotel; Mr. Corado Maravillia, general manager of Alitalia and director Business Relations, NABCC; Eng. Vladimir Roussev, director Business Programs, NABCC.

History Of The Organisation

The North American-Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce (NABCC) was set up in 1999. The Chamber was founded to provide assistance for the establishment of new links and the expansion of the existing ones between North American companies (the USA, Canada and Mexico) and Bulgarian companies. The NABCC is a non-governmental non-profit organization, registered in the State of California, the USA, and intended to serve as a bridge in the business relations between North American and Bulgarian companies, organizations, educational institutions (universities and colleges) and others, which are eager to find a suitable partner in the respective country.

Objectives And Programs Of The Organisation

The major aim of the Chamber is the popularization of the economic and business opportunities between the countries in North America and Bulgaria. The focus of our efforts is directed towards provoking the North American investors’ interest in the existing investment projects, as well as creating adequate conditions for new ones. In particular, the NABCC has channeled its efforts in launching commercial, financial, cultural and educational programs.

The establishment of Bulgarian business clubs in the financial centers of Washington, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, etc., is another line the Chamber is working in. The purpose of these clubs is to form groups of Bulgarian businessman living in these US cities and to get them to lobby more actively for the attraction of American investments to Bulgaria. The idea behind these centers is that they should grow into an indicator of the American financial and political circles’ attitudes to Bulgaria, for Bulgarian marketing and advertising, as well as the establishment of a network of contacts, which will lobby for Bulgaria.

In implementation of the major aims and programs of the Chamber, the endeavors are currently directed to programs connected with the attraction of investments to high technologies, outsourcing and R&D, the development of programs connected with tourism as well as educational programs. The Chamber’s main line of activity has been its intermediary role in the establishment of business contacts between Bulgarian and North American financial circles.

The organization has offices in San Francisco – in charge of the organization’s business in the territory of North America; in Carlsbad – in charge of the territory of South Carolina and Arizona; in Seattle, Wash. – in charge of the territory of the States of Washington, Alaska and Montana; in Washington, D.C. – in charge of the East Coast of North America; and a branch in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Honorary chairman of the organization is Mr. Robert Millar, governor of the State of Nevada from 1988 to 1998.

Mr. Emil A. Dimitroff is chairman of the Executive Board, executive director and founder of the organization.

One of the Chamber’s interesting initiatives is the forthcoming singing of a memorandum for partnership and cooperation with the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria. The idea is in future to set up an international chamber of commerce, which will unite and manage the separate international chambers of commerce of different countries in Bulgaria. The desired result from the establishment of such a synergetic organization is as follows:

1. It is to become a powerful lobbyist organization, which will protect the interests of small and middle-sized international companies represented in Bulgaria;

2. It is to conduct forums, which will identify the problems of small and middle-sized international companies in Bulgaria and will seek solutions to these problems. At the end of each forum, a document will be drawn up and submitted to the government of the Republic of Bulgaria. The document will list the problems, which confront the small and middle-sized companies and investors in Bulgaria, as well as provide some advice about how to resolve them.

This is something new in the existing practice – a union between members of two chambers of commerce from different countries, aiming to implement the best of world practice in business relations and commercial activities.

The Managing Board of the North American-Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce approved at one of its meetings the proposal for joint activity and authorized the Executive Director, Mr. Emil Dimitroff, to represent it.

Our organization began work on forming a Bulgarian business delegation, which will visit the USA in the autumn of 2004 or in the spring of 2005. The objectives of this initiative are as follows:

1. To stimulate tourism and, in particular, the building of tourism infrastructure by means of drawing up projects in this sphere between Bulgarian and American tour operators, by promoting our country with a documentary film featuring the development of tourism in recent years and the new opportunities for Bulgaria, a country with over 1300 years of history, traditions and culture in the heart of the Old Continent – the Balkans.

2. To stimulate the economy and infrastructure by disclosing and taking advantage of the new investment opportunities in compliance with the priorities on a local, regional and national level, especially the priorities set in the strategies for regional development within the frames of the six target regions.

3. To promote small and middle-sized business by establishing direct contacts between our producers and local distributors, representatives of the largest commercial chains in the states of California and Washington, as well as US manufacturers. The idea is that the Bulgarian companies, which are willing to come out on the American market, should display samples of their products at a specially staged exhibition. Thus they will have the chance to directly negotiate and sign on-the-spot contracts for import of their products in big commercial chains on the West Coast of the US.

4. To promote the cultural cooperation between the two countries by organizing Days of Bulgarian Culture in the US during the visit of our delegation.

So far businessmen from the whole country have taken interest in the expansion and search of new markets for their produce and the establishment of long-term partnership relations with the business of the North American Coast, where Bulgaria is almost totally unknown.