On 28 and 29 July, Ambassador Giuseppina Zarra visited Varna where she was accompanied by the Honorary Consul Antonio Tarquinio.
The Ambassador had two important institutional meetings, with the Governor of the District of Varna, Mario Smarkov and the two Vice-governors, Silviya Aleksandrova and Georgi Georgiev and with Varna Mayor Ivan Portnih to explore the expansion of bilateral collaboration in strategic areas of energy, connectivity, infrastructure and digitization, and the development of opportunities in the tourism sector.
Mayor Ivan Portnich presented projects in the fields of education, infrastructure and the new industrial area. He stressed that one of the priorities on which the City of Varna is working is the attraction of investments in the IT sector in order to transform the economic profile of the city.
A meeting was also held with representatives of Italian entrepreneurship in the area. The critical points and opportunities of the entrepreneurs of the district of Varna were discussed in order to develop future initiatives and projects to support and protect the Italian business activity in the area.
In these meetings the Ambassador Zarra, was also assisted by the President of Confindustria Bulgaria Roberto Santorelli and the Director of Confindustria Bulgaria Mila Nenova.
The Ambassador also met in Varna the Head of SMM, Amm. Cavo Dragone, visiting the leaders of the Bulgarian Navy to deepen bilateral collaboration on the Black Sea.
Two moments of meeting with the Italian community resident in Varna, during which the needs of our compatriots were examined.
Ambassador Zarra then had the opportunity to visit the secondary school “A.S. Pushkin” where the Italian language is taught and the most important cultural institutions in Varna that collaborate intensely with the Embassy, the Institute of Culture and the Honorary Consulate: the Archaeological Museum, which houses important finds including the oldest gold artifacts, the Municipal Gallery and the Rebirth Museum, which houses many Garibaldi’s relics, testifying to the deep links between the revolutionary movements for freedom and independence of the two countries during the 19th century; Ambassador participated in an opera concert in honor of Italy organized by the Varna Opera at the Royal Palace of Balchik which traditionally closes the Italian Week organized in collaboration with the Honorary Consulate.
An important stop was the visit to Karin Dom, a foundation for children with special needs, with whom the Ambassador has had deep ties for many years. The visit also coincided with the celebration of the children, future first graders, who attend the therapies at Karin Dom. Ambassador Zarra and Consul Tarquinio took part in the celebration, sharing with parents, children and the team their emotion and wishing the children a good start to school, and Karin Dom to continue to grow, develop and support families.
Today the visit continues to Burgas where the Ambassador met Deputy Mayor Krassimir Stoychev, responsible for the economic development of the city.
