BSEC’s 15th Anniversary Summit to be held in İstanbul
Posted by meb at June 18th, 2007
Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC)’s 15th Anniversary Summit will be held in Istanbul on June 25th, with the participation of representatives of member and observer states. Representatives from 12 associate members and 13 observer nations will participate in the summit.
Several regional and international organizations and BSEC’s sectoral partners such as EU, UN, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), OECD, World Bank, WTO, UN Economic Commission for Europe, UNDP, UNEP, UNIDO, Eurasian Economic Community, International Road Transport Union and International Road Federation are also expected to attend the summit. Vice President of the European Commission Guenther Verheugen will participate in the summit as well. While Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan will hold a luncheon at Ciragan Palace in honor of the participants prior to the summit, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer will host a dinner at Dolmabahce Palace on the day the summit ends.
BSEC’s history
On June 25th, 1992, the heads of state and governments of 11 countries signed the Summit Declaration and the Bosphorus Statement in Istanbul, giving birth to BSEC.
It came into existence as a unique and promising model of multilateral political and economic initiative aimed at fostering interaction and harmony among the Member States, as well as to ensure peace, stability and prosperity encouraging friendly and good-neighbourly relations in the Black Sea region. Turkey hosts the Permanent International Secretariat of the organization.
Turkey’s term presidency
Turkey, which has taken over BSEC’s term presidency from Serbia for a period of 6 months as of May 1st,2007, has decided to give priority to several issues such as environment, transportation, energy, telecommunication and suppression of crime during its presidency. According to diplomatic sources, concrete steps regarding the implementation of the “Black Sea Ring Highway” project, will be taken during this term. Moreover, activities concerning the “Sea Highways” will also be initiated within this period, sources say.
source: EkoTürk News Agency / Ankara
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