08 Jul 2018

“Strengthening cooperation for inclusive prosperity”: Gecić Law at the 16 +1 Meeting and Business Forum

Gecić Law was honored to represent the regional legal services industry at the Business Forum within the 7th Meeting of Heads of Government of the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) and China which took place on 7 July 2018 in Sofia, Bulgaria.  The Business Forum and the Meeting were held at the monumental National Palace of Culture with H.E. Mr. Lee Keqiang, the Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China and H.E. Mr. Boyko Borissov, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria, delivering the keynote address.

The meeting focused on strengthening cooperation with China and the CEECs under the 16+1 Initiative and was organized by the Ministry of Economy of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency (BSMEPA). The high level event included Prime Ministers and Heads of Government from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, The Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and China. Observers of the Meeting were Austria, Belarus, Greece, Switzerland, EBRD, European Commission/ EEAS and the Council of the EU.

The Business Forum focused on four panels (High technologies; Infrastructure; Agriculture; Tourism) and explored the exciting new investments which are coming to the CEEC region from Chinese companies as a part of the three continent long One Belt, One Road project.

This unique event takes place annually in one of the 16 +1 countries, and serves as an exclusive meeting point between large Chinese corporations and local companies. During the panels a key highlight of projects already finished was the Mihajlo Pupin bridge, completed in 2014 by the China Road and Bridge Corporation in Belgrade. Numerous infrastructure and technology investments are ongoing in the region, and with total investments growing annually, every major local company has to take notice and participate in these deals. Building on our positive experience from working with Chinese companies we are the first regional law firm with a full Chinese website as well as a China Desk. We at Gecić Law consider all of this to be the first step of our participation in what we believe is to be a strong and eventful journey of mutual cooperation with the People’s Republic of China and the countries of Eastern Europe.