site.bta11th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media Begins in Athens

11th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media Begins in Athens

Athens, November 5 (BTA) - Opening the 11th World Meeting of
Bulgarian Media, hosted by the National University of Athens in
the Greek capital, the Bulgarian Parliament's Culture and Media
Committee Chair Polina Karastoyanova said the Bulgarian News
Agency (BTA) is an innovator, because 11 years ago it started
building what is perhaps the most important bridge: the bridge
of communication between Bulgaria and the world. Each of the 11
BTA-organized World Meetings of Bulgarian Media so far has added
 one more symbolic lane to this wide bridge, Karastoyanova said.
 These events have become "an institution which raises the right
 questions and seeks the answers," she said.

"The fact that the rectors of five of the most prestigious
Bulgarian universities have come to this meeting to talk about
education shows that intellectuality is the largest territory
where we can try to be better. If there is any point in a
country's government, it is the promotion of culture and
education," Karastoyanova said.

BTA Director General Maxim Minchev said: "After 10 successful
attempts, we are together again. I sincerely hope that this
meeting, which we decided by no coincidence to hold in Athens,
will become yet another forum at which Bulgarian journalists
from across the world can discuss matters that are important to
us. These are matters pertaining to our profession, the large
Bulgarian diaspora worldwide, and the life of Bulgarians
abroad."

Bulgarian Ambassador to Greece Emilia Kraleva said the theme of
the current meeting: "Media and Cultural Differences. Dialogue
between Neighbours," makes for a very interesting discussion.
"It will likely highlight our differences, but it will certainly
 help us recognize our similarities as well. This is how the
dialogue between neighbours works," Kraleva said.

"Bulgaria and Greece, which are so close together and yet
travelled very different paths in their recent history, are now
firmly standing together again. I can assure you, we have no
intention of parting again - on the contrary, there is a growing
 number of questions which we can solve together in our shared
existence as neighbours and Europeans," Ambassador Kraleva said.

The audience was greeted with a musical performance by jazz
virtuoso Theodosii Spassov.

The 11th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media is being attended by
over 150 journalists from Bulgaria and the world, statesmen,
politicians, diplomats, business persons, intellectuals, media
experts and important public figures. The event has been
organized in association with CEZ Bulgaria, Coca-Cola Bulgaria,
EKO Bulgaria, Mtel, Eurobank Ergasias, Postbank, Aurubis
Bulgaria, Weiss Profil, and Sofia Med.

Within the first panel of the meeting, "Policies of the
Bulgarian media and communities abroad", the participants
discussed whether Bulgarian media abroad shout be financed by
the State.

"Constantly begging the State for money is old-fashioned. Some
people may want to be pay-roll patriots but I don't," said
Daniela Gocheva of the Bulgarian-language "Dialogue" magazine in
 the Netherlands. Financing implies dependence, she added.
According to Evgeni Vesselinov of the BulgariCa" e-zine, based
in Los Angelis, the idea is not about 100-per cent financing but
 about some support like the kind of support Bulgarian schools
abroad get from the Bulgarian government.

Polina Karastoyanova, Chair of the parliamentary Culture and
Media Committee, said that the present discussion follows up on
a June 2 meeting her committee had with the Committee for
Bulgarians Abroad. The participants in that discussion agreed
that the State owes the Bulgarian media organizations abroad,
but the truth is that most sectors are underfunded,
Karastoyanova said.

BTA Chief Secretary Evelina Andreeva cited several surveys
related to the Bulgarian communities abroad. During the First
World Meeting of the Bulgarian Media, the expatriate Bulgarians
were 2 million people. According to data of the diplomatic
representations of the Foreign Ministry, today, when the 11th
edition of the forum is underway, they are already 3 million.
The expat communities say their numbers are increasing.

Figures of the National Statistical Institute show that for the
past 4-5 years between 13,000 and 24,000 Bulgarians have left
this country as 55 per cent of them are aged 20 to 29. Only
230,000 have returned since 1980, Andreeva said.

According to figures of the Economic Institute of the Bulgarian
Academy of Sciences (BAS), 2.5 million Bulgarians work abroad,
which outnumbers the 2.2 million Bulgarians working in their
home country.

BAS calculations show that Bulgarians abroad have transferred
1,700 million euro to Bulgaria.

"When we launched the initiative 11 years ago, we registered
around 140-150 Bulgarian media outlets abroad as their content
has been improving ever since," Andreeva noted. She added that
these point out financing as their main concern.

Addressing the meeting, Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova said
 that one of the goals of the Ministry in the coming years will
be to establish Bulgaria as a destination for well-off tourists.
 

Angelkova said that all five-star hotels in Bulgaria report
increased, not falling,  occupancies, and most of them already
have bookings for stays next summer.

The strategy for promoting Bulgaria's tourism brand next summer
is mostly through big tour operators, in combination with
on-line marketing and social media presence, Angelkova said.
About nine million leva are allocated for tourism advertising
next year.

Angelkova recalled that 14.2 per cent of the Bulgarian GDP is
formed by tourism and accompanying activities.