Participants from Romania, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Turkey discussed prospects of the blue economy and sustainable growth in the Black Sea region

Representatives of the European institutions, national parliaments, governmental and non-governmental organizations, business and science of Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Turkey took part in the International Congress "Blue Growth in the Black Sea region - Prospects and Opportunities". The event was hold 19-20.09. in Varna.

The Congress was organised by Marine cluster Bulgaria (www.marinecluster.com ) in cooperation with the General Directorate "DG MARE" in European Commission and the European network of maritime clusters (www.enmc.eu).

In the congress participated also  the organization Sea Europe, Bulgarian Ministry of Transport, National Agency for Fisheries and Aquaculture, Bulgarian Naval Academy, Technical University of Varna, Association of Manufacturers of Fishery Products.

From the the Congress tribune spoke Marusya Lubcheva – MEP from the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament, Beate Gminder – head of Unit "Maritime Policy in the Mediterranean and Black Sea" at DG MARE in European Commission, Bulgarian deputy minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Petar Kirov. In the discussions took part Fabrice Mair, Vice President of the European Network of Maritime Clusters and Luciano Manzoni, chairman of Sea Europe research committee and Secretary of Waterorn transport platform.

Forum was attended by the governors of Varna and Ruse Ivan Velikov and Vencislav Kaltchev, deputy. mayor of Varna Todor Ivanov, deputy. mayor of Burgas Krasimir Stoychev, and representatives of the Bulgarian Maritime Administration Executive Agency, Bulgarian Executive Agency for Fisheries and Aquaculture, the Bulgarian maritime business and research organizations, the Naval Academy, Technical University of Varna, Association of fishery products.

Ilze Atanasova - chairman of Maritime cluster Bulgaria said: "We - the representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations, research institutes and businesses gather to discuss the opportunities that arise in the Black Sea region in the context of the European Strategy for Growth blue.The focus of our forum is the role of the cluster groups for increasing the competitiveness of the industry in the application of European best practices. I'm sure that this congress will aprove the advantages of the cluster groups and outline real new ways to marine trade in the Black Sea region, the sea, which manages our entire professional life.“