Participation of the PABSEC International Secretariat to the ICBSS 11th International Black Sea Symposium “A collective recovery for the Black Sea Region in the post-Covid era”, 20 April 2021
Mr. Miltiadis Makrygiannis, PABSEC Deputy Secretary General, attended the 11th International Black Sea Symposium titled “A collective recovery for the Black Sea Region in the post-covid era”, organized by the International Center for Black Sea Studies (ICBSS), on 20 April 2021.
The event, which took place virtually, aimed at offering a platform for dialogue among stakeholders to discuss challenges for, and best practices of national and regional response to the pandemic since the covid-19 outbreak. Moreover, the participants had the chance to exchange views on opportunities and synergies for a sustainable socioeconomic plan for a collective recovery in the Black Sea region.
Among the speakers was Mr. Akaki LOMIDZE, Head of Division of Multilateral and Regional Economic Cooperation of the Dept. of International Economic Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the International Centre for Black Sea Studies (ICBSS) ; Amb. Michael B. CHRISTIDES, Secretary General, BSEC PERMIS; Mr. Jeroen WILLEMS, Deputy Head of Unit NEAR.C.2 Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus & Eastern Partnership, European Commission; Ms. Tamar KORIAULI, Deputy Head, Georgian National Tourism Administration; Mr. Stavros KALOGNOMOS, Executive Secretary, Balkan and Black Sea Commission, Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe (CPMR); Ms. Patrizia BUSOLINI, Policy Officer, Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Sea-basin Strategies, Maritime Regional Cooperation and Maritime Security, European Commission; Prof. Dr. Alexandru STRATAN, Director, National Institute for Economic Research of the Republic of Moldova and other experts.
The event consisted of three sessions named a/ National response to the pandemic: Views from the Black Sea countries, b/ Post-pandemic economic recovery: challenges and priorities, c/ Development and Innovation to build forward better.
Special emphasis was placed on several issued as digitalization, adaptation of services to the new market demands, identification of new skills and capacity-building, business re-start and social cohesion, that are identified as key priorities for the post-covid era.