Today, at the initiative of the Chairperson of the Economic and Social Council Zornitsa Rusinova, a meeting was held with Fabritsio Dzarkone, the Permanent Representative of the World Bank for Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Europe and Central Asia.

The purpose of the conversation is to find common ideas for joint initiatives between the World Bank and the Economic and Social Council in order to achieve a much better effect for the benefit of the people in Bulgaria, said at the beginning of the conversation the Chairperson of the ESC, Zornitsa Rusinova. The meeting with the Permanent Representative of the World Bank is one of the first discussions that the Chairperson of the ESC will initiate with other institutions in Bulgaria, in which the ESC will seek partnership and new initiatives for effective solutions related to overcoming the consequences of the Covid-19 crisis and the future development of Bulgaria.

Zornitsa Rusinova pointed out the need to strengthen the dialogue between the civil society on the one hand, in the face of the ESC and the Parliament, the government and the presidency on the other hand. She accentuated the expert potential of the ESC, which could have an even stronger, immediate and influence in a longer horizon on the process of the economic and the social recovery in Bulgaria. The Chairperson of the ESC pointed out as main areas of activity for the ESC in the next period — the digitalization of the economy, working with young people, implementing the “green package” for Bulgaria, the strong performance of the country in the process of joining the euro area.

The Chairperson of the ESC proposed to the World Bank common initiatives for discussions on key economic and social issues and pointed out that the ESC, as a platform for dialogue between civil society organizations, would widen the dimensions of the performance of the two institutions.

The Permanent Representative of the World Bank Fabritsio Dzarkone, for his part, defined the initiative of the ESC as very timely and necessary for the activity of the bank in Bulgaria. “The support of the ESC is fundamental for us, because it will give us many new ideas for solutions that the World Bank can offer to the government,” he said.  The World Bank has a high-level dialogue with governments, but we need to detail our proposals and the expertise of the ESC can help us in precisely with this knowledge of things at home. F. Dzarcone pointed out that the World Bank appreciates the dialogue with the civil society very positively and sees in the future the consultation with ESC as a mechanism for shaping decisions from the bottom upwards, from people to the government.

Zornitsa Rusinova proposed that after the ESC adopts its programme and action plan, a second meeting should be held with the representative of the World Bank in Bulgaria in March, during which specific common initiatives can be outlined.