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With a personal invitation, the deputy mayor of the municipality of Velingrad Angel Toporchev took part in the international conference "Bulgaria - a land of dreams". The forum was held from 9 to 11 January at the Hilton Hotel in Sofia with the participation of the entire Bulgarian management elite led by Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg and a huge number of guests from abroad attracted by the opportunities for tourism development in Bulgaria. Participants were welcomed by former US President Bill Clinton, who greeted the conference through a pre-recorded video speech. Cassettes with Clinton's speech received all participants in the conferences.

After his return from the capital, Mr. Toporchev said that the results of the forum for Bulgaria as a whole were excellent. The very nature of the conference does not imply the conclusion of specific transactions, but has created prerequisites for many and useful contacts. The pros and cons in the development of Bulgarian tourism, which is the most successfully developing industry in our economy for the past year, are reported. The conference proved to be a catalyst for the introduction of the Tourism Act at first reading, and the ministers involved ensured that the proposals made at Hilton would be taken into account. A new similar forum is planned for this autumn. The municipalities have made their presentation Troyan, Veliko Tarnovo, Bansko and Velingrad. On January 11, the presentation of the project for a sports center "Sutka" and a geothermal plant in Velingrad have become a "final chord" of the conference in the words of Mr. Toporchev. These were the largest investment projects presented to the forum. The Deputy Mayor shared that at the presentation on Friday at 5.30 pm the hall was full, there was and was used the opportunity to prove Velingrad as a tourist center to a large number of international tour operators, media and investors. As a serious omission of the organizers Mr. Toporchev reported that there was a problem with the translation and that in 3 different halls parallel similar presentations were taking place. It is positive, however, that the organizers of "Bulgaria - Land of Dreams" will make a web-page on the Internet, in which will go all the presented information, including about our city and projects. By the end of February Mr. Toporchev expects a large working delegation from Germany. The Japanese embassy's interest in the project for the Velingrad geothermal plant was reaffirmed. According to the deputy mayor, there will be news in this direction soon. Elena Baeva