On May 9, 2005 the Forum Cities Welcoming Business was held within the
International Consumer Goods and Technologies Fair in Plovdiv. The forum was
organized by the International Fair Plovdiv in partnership with the Foundation for Local Government Reform. Media partners of the event were Bulgarian newspapers "Dnevnik", "Capital" and "Stritelstvo - Gradat".

The prime minister of the Republic of Bulgaria Simeon Saxe - Coburg greeted the forum participants and expressed his firm belief that Bulgarian municipalities play significant role in the decentralization process, initiated by the Bulgarian government. More significant is the mayors responsibility for the effective and reasonable acquirement of EU financial instruments.

The Minister of European Affairs Meglena Kuneva recalled the EU principles of regional and subsidiary policy that outline the role of municipalities and regions in Bulgarian development.

In parallel sessions the following topics were discussed: capacity of the industrial parks, best practices of Bulgarian industrial parks, mechanisms for promoting SMEs and municipal economic development, initiatives for promoting Bulgarian business image, foreign companies practices and recommendations to Bulgarian municipalities.

The Minister of Economy Mr. Milko Kovachev took part in discussions focused on the strategic development of Bulgaria.


It was the first time as a Exposition of Bulgarian municipalities was initiated that aims at establishing contacts between Bulgarian municipalities and businesses. 30 Bulgarian municipalities participated and presented their business profiles at showrooms.