Бизнес

At the traditional Christmas meeting of the partners, the Agency for Regional Development - Center for Business and Information made an annual review of its activities in 2004. The Executive Director Vaska Milusheva summarized the work done in several main sectors: For the municipality: visit of a delegation from 15 European countries on a project for rural development; organization of Association of Municipalities from the area for cooperation with the Italian company "ASTRAL", which will repair and maintain roads; developed projects for water supply in the district. Anesthesis and for the renovation of the Art Gallery.
For business: participation in international fairs in Germany, Italy, Turkey, Serbia, where local crafts, organic products, opportunities for tourism are presented and contacts are made for over 20 local companies with foreign partners. The ARP-CBI also organized this year the Feast of Potatoes in Velingrad and presented Bulgaria at the Terra Madre Organic Food Fair in Turin. Under the "Jobs" program, a lease of 168,750 leva has been granted to 9 companies, and the total leasing portfolio is now 647,500 leva. Through the leases, 249 new jobs were created and 419 were retained. With these indicators, RDA - Velingrad enters the troika of the leading centers on "Jobs".
For tourism: representing the region on tourism exchanges in the country and on the World Tourism Market in London. ARR-CBI is working to create an information base for servicing guests in Velingrad. Since 2005. CBI will also operate as a tour operator.
Emphasis in the agency's activities in 2004. was the certification of 22.3 hectares of forests for the extraction of organic fruits, of 220 acres of lands for the production of cultivated herbs and spices and of the production of organic jams from wild fruits. These certificates open the doors to the European market for eco-products. The plans for the future are aimed at developing projects to improve the infrastructure of the municipality; a project for local initiatives in the Mesta region - Chepino; developing a tourism strategy together with the Association of Hoteliers and Restaurantiers; creating a Club of Pre-Private; projects for professional qualification of furniture manufacturers, hairdressers and car repairers together with partners from Italy. The chairwoman of the National Business Development Network Rositsa Dzhambazova congratulated RDA-CBI - Velingrad for dealing with the big difficulties in 2004. Mrs. Dzhambazova presented in detail the capabilities of the NBD to support the business. The Christmas meeting of the partners ended with a cocktail and a festive program in which the children from Kindergarten "Edelweiss" and KST "Impulse" participated. Each guest of the celebration received as a Christmas gift a jar "Sweet for connoisseurs", which is produced by the ARAs and since the end of November is already sold at a specialized stand in the Halls in Sofia.
Elena Baeva