Black Sea Region
The Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) emerged in 1992 as a promising model of multilateral political and economic initiative.
With the entry into force of its Statute on 1 May 1999, the BSEC was transformed into a fully-fledged regional economic organisation - the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organisation. Its main objective is to promote economic prosperity and friendly and good-neighbourly relations among its member states - Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, the Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine. The BSEC observer states include EU member states as well as the USA, Egypt, Tunisia, etc., and among the partner organisations is the European Commission. The BSEC also has a number of specialised bodies, such as the BSEC Parliamentary Assembly, the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, the International Centre for Black Sea Studies and the BSEC Business Council.
The BSEC Permanent International Secretariat (BSEC PERMIS) was established in March 1994 and is based in Istanbul.
The main areas of cooperation within the organisation include banking and finance, the fight against organised crime, culture, customs, education, energy, environmental protection, exchange of statistics and economic information, health and pharmaceuticals, information and communication technology, institutional renewal and good governance, science and technology, small and medium-sized enterprises, tourism, trade and economic development, etc.
The main organ of the Organisation is the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the member countries, which meets twice a year.
The Republic of Bulgaria participates in the BSEC as a co-founder and active participant, defending the basic principles and objectives of the organisation. Our country is also engaged in the processes of reforming and adapting the organisation to the contemporary challenges. So far Bulgaria has held the rotating presidency of the BSEC four times - in 2003-2004, 2009-2010, 2014, 2019.
More information about the BSEC can be found at: http://www.bsec-organization.org