10th International Black Sea Symposium
13 March 2019 Events and DiscussionsWithin the framework of the Calendar of Events of the Bulgarian Chairmanship-in-Office of the BSEC, the 10th International Black Sea Symposium organized by the International Center for Black Sea Studies (ICBSS) took place in Athens on 6-7 March 2019 with the "Black Sea - Silk Road Condor: Building Bridges of Cooperation" as its main theme.
Diplomats, academics and experts from BSEC Member States, along with distinguished representatives from Germany, Hungary, Italy and other countries took active part in the various panels of the event. The BSEC PERMIS Secretary General Ambassador Michael Christides and the Deputy Secretary General Dr. Sergei Goncharenko represented the BSEC PERMIS.
Prof. Dr. Zahari Zakhariev, President of the Bulgarian National Association for the Belt & Road Initiative and President of the Slavyani Foundation presented the keynote Speech.
The themes during the first day referred to the tourism potential of the "Silk Road" concept and to the importance of the Black Sea Region as the crossing-point between Europe and Asia. During the second day the focus was on the advantages and challenges raised by the Chinese Belt & Road Initiative (B&RI).