site.btaFrench Ambassador: There Is Good Reason to Advertise Bulgaria in France

121 POLITICS-BTA-AMBASSADOR-FRANCE

French Ambassador:
There Is Good Reason
to Advertise Bulgaria in France


Sofia, November 21 (BTA) - There is good reason to advertise
Bulgaria in France, French Ambassador to Bulgaria Xavier
Lapeyere de Cabanes told the BTA editorial board during a visit
to the national news agency Friday. He said that Bulgaria is
little known in his country and this prevents the expansion of
bilateral relations.

He sees a huge potential in the Bulgarian culture and tourism to
attract the attention of French people.

Currently some 20,000 to 30,000 French tourists come to Bulgaria
annually.

Ambassador Lapeyere de Cabanes says that while the Bulgarian sea
and winter resorts will hardly impressed people in France - who
have plenty of both in their own country, Bulgaria has very
beautiful nature, a big potential for culture tourism, beautiful
towns and monasteries, all of which can be strong attractions.
"And the food here is very good, too, which the French can
appreciate," he added.

He hopes that an upcoming exhibition in the Louvre of Thracian
finds from the Bulgarian lands do much to advertise Bulgaria in
France and the world. It will also be a scientific exhibition
which will tell the story of Thracian king. The Louvre has an
average of 1 million visitors a month and even if only some of
these choose to visit the Bulgarian exhibition as well, it will
mean that a huge number of people from France and the world will
get an idea of what Bulgaria is about during the four months of
the exhibition, he said.

Bulgaria will also be represented in Paris with a number of
other cultural events and two French exhibitions will visit
Sofia and Plovdiv. "This is only the beginning of cooperation
between Bulgarian and French museums," the Ambassador said.

BTA Director General Maxim Minchev thanked the Ambassador for
his commitment and said his dedication to advertising Bulgaria
and enhancing bilateral relations is truly remarkable.
***
In a BTA video interview Friday, Ambassador Xavier Lapeyere de
Cabanes said he is happy that the new Bulgarian government has a
deputy prime minister in charge of the Cooperation and
Verification Mechanism (CVM) whereby the European Commission
monitors BulgariaТs progress in fighting organized crime and
corruption and reforming the judiciary. "It means that this
mechanism and the reform of the judiciary is a priority for the
Bulgarian government and Parliament," he added.

He would not speak in detail about his expectations of the
report and said it is the job of the European Commission, not
the Member States but commented that, clearly, due to the
political instability there has been little or no progress in
Bulgaria in the monitored areas.

"Let us hope that with this government - if it has a chance to
last - the work will be done and the CVM will be discontinued,"
he said.

Speaking about the preparation for the Bulgarian Presidency of
the EU Council in 2018, Ambassador Xavier Lapeyere de Cabanes
said that his advice is that no time should be wasted. He
believes that the EU Presidency will be a big advertisement for
Bulgaria and will help Bulgarian people appreciate the fact that
they are true and equal members of the EU.

De Cabanes said that the accession to the EU has brought about
an improvement of the Bulgarian image in France. EU enlargement
was a challenge and it has proven successful. In the economic
area, French investors are not very familiar with Bulgaria and
need more information, including the comments they can get from
investors who are already here. He added. LM/DM/LN/