Successful conclusion of the 44th Ordinary Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the BSEC, the launch of which was made by the Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament Mr Enangelos Meimarakis. Speech was also addressed by Foreign Minister. E. Venizelos, who underlined the importance of interparliamentary cooperation, describing the Parliamentary Assembly as the body that protects and highlights the economic and developmental nature of the BSEC, and noted that the triptych peace -statherotita-development should be the common goal of all. Still, despite the conflicts that exist at this time, he stressed that there must not be emotional and ideological use of history, since we look to the future. The meeting was also attended by the Speaker of the Moldovan Parliament, Mr. Igor Corman, as Moldova taking over responsibility of the next Presidency, who said the new presidency will work to strengthen the dialogue with the European institutions, and to facilitate trade, the development of transport, tourism and new technologies.
Followed by the election of the new Secretary General and thereafter, at the first plenary session, the General Secretary BSEC Mr. Victor Tvircun presented a report on the activities of BSEC during the last 6 months and highlighted, inter alia, the importance of synchronization of Presidencies BSEC and Parliamentary Assembly of BSEC for closer cooperation and discussed extensively the joint action plan to strengthen this cooperation. In the second meeting was followed by speeches by the heads of all national delegations.
The head of the Greek delegation Mr. Simos Kedikoglou described in his speech the BSEC as critical union of states with different economic background, achieved in recent years to create strong economic ties and major energy, transport and trade networks between countries. He then referred to the actions that Greece has developed within the BSEC, as a founding member and as a presiding country in the last year, stating that our country is among the largest contributors and the organization's finances. He noted that Greece during the presidency expressed its strong will to build the supporting mechanism of the BSEC, focusing its efforts on shaping and strengthening synergies of common interest -as economic cooperation through various programs and the transfer of expertise and knowledge in operational arm of the organization; finding financial resources and sectoral cooperation in health, transport and tourism.
The convention closed with a speech by the Speaker of the Parliament and Chairman of the Assembly, Mr. Evangelos Meimarakis, who, having made a brief summary of the work, he described the PA BSEC as a space of living dialogue that offers not only many opportunities for regional cooperation, but also intervention in developments in the close geographic surroundings.
It is noted that the work of the Assembly, was attended by 75 representatives from 12 countries that make up the BSEC.