Bulgaria Foreign Minister Opens Forum on National Symbols

novinite.com

Bulgaria Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin opened Monday a round table as part of the "Bulgarian Symbols" National Campaign.

The themes of the forum, which took place in Grand Hotel Sofia, were: "The Bulgarian Symbols in Support Our Identity and as Bulgaria's Emblem Abroad", and "Bulgaria - Successful European Business and Tourist Destination."

The participants at the forum were also welcomed by Bulgaria's Deputy PM and Minister of Education Daniel Valchev, and by Deputy Minister of Culture Yavor Milushev.

The "Bulgarian Symbols" National Campaign will go on until the end of April, 2008. Bulgarians will choose one "global" symbol of Bulgaria among 33 nominations.

In addition, one symbol will be chosen in each of the three categories: natural sights, cultural-historical heritage, and food and drinks. The nominations include the Cyrillic alphabet, the Boyana Church, the Old Town in Nessebar, the Bulgarian Rose and rose oil, the Seven Rila Lakes, yogurt, beans soup, the Bulgarian Martenitsa.

Over 100 000 Bulgarians have already voted for Bulgarian symbols at the website of the campaign, infobulgaria.info.

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Kalfin stressed during the forum that Bulgaria has plenty of features, which would be attractive for foreign business and tourists.

He reminded that 74% of foreign tourists in Bulgaria, or 3,4 million people, are from the EU members states, and that it depended on their image of Bulgaria how many new tourists it would welcome next year.

"It seems that we are still unable to acquire the confidence of a nation from the European family", Kalfin said, adding that in his view Bulgaria's symbol should be representative of the country.

Archeologists from Bulgaria's National Archaeological Museum present at the forum commented that foreign tourists were most interested in the gold treasures and the 1,1 million years old bone and rock graphics from the Kozarnika Cave close to the town of Belogradchik in Northwest Bulgaria.

The Bulgarian Symbols National Campaign was started by in August by the Bulgarian Association for Business and Tourist Information.