site.btaUPDATED Burgas Blue Summit Opens in Seaside City

A three-day Burgas Blue Summit, which focuses on key issues in established and emerging sectors of the blue economy in the Black Sea region, opened in the Bulgarian port of Burgas on Friday. It is the first of three planned conferences, with the next two locations being the Ukrainian city of Odessa and the Georgian Batumi. The event is organized within the framework of the Digital Blue Economy and Innovation Acceleration Network (DBAN) project, which is implemented with the financial support of the EU through the Natural Resources, Climate, Sustainable Blue Economy and Clean Energy Programme of the 2021-2027 European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund.

The forum at the Flora Exhibition Centre in Burgas is accompanied by an exhibition of local producers of traditional sea products. Invitations to participate were addressed to politicians, experts, researchers and representatives of academia, businesses, international practitioners, technology providers and users, entrepreneurs and startups, organizations and representatives involved in the blue economy sectors from the Black Sea countries.

The idea of the initiative is to emphasize the development of the blue economy to generate economic growth, present innovative business ideas for digitization in the blue and circular economy, create cross-border sectoral links between stakeholders in the maritime sector to improve cooperation opportunities and promote investments in sustainable blue innovation. The programme includes specialized seminars with a practical focus, as well as sessions to establish partnerships between the participants.