The Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIR) has taken over the presidency of the Association of Balkan Chambers of Commerce. The transition occurred on September 10 during the association’s Annual General Assembly in Podgorica, Montenegro.
The Association of Balkan Chambers of Commerce was created in 1994 through an initiative by Romania’s National Chamber. Founding members included Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia (now Serbia and Montenegro). Cyprus joined the group in 1996, followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2001.
“CCIR has achieved notable international results, referring only to the first ten days of September, both in Melbourne, where it assumed a new mandate within the World Chambers Federation, and today in assuming the presidency of the Association of Balkan Chambers of Commerce,” said CCIR President Mihai Daraban. “Unfortunately, these concrete results for positioning Romania on the international economic scene are not appreciated by political decision-makers in our country. While the National Chamber manages to consolidate Romania’s influence in global economic organizations, the lack of support from political factors limits our potential to transform these opportunities into concrete benefits for the Romanian business environment. Romania can become the convergence center for investments and economic cooperation in the Balkan region, but it needs a coherent political vision to support the economic diplomacy that CCIR conducts at the international level. In this mandate, we aim to transform the Association of Balkan Chambers of Commerce into a strategic platform for accelerating Balkan economic integration, leveraging our position as the dominant economic force in the region and, at the same time, our status as a ‘gateway’ to European markets through the Port of Constanța,” Mr. Mihai Daraban added.