The 16+1 format is an initiative by the People’s Republic of China aimed at intensifying and expanding cooperation with 11 EU Member States and 5 Balkan countries - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, in areas such as investments, transport, finance, science, education, culture and others. The format consists of two main parts: a high-level leaders’ plenary session and a business forum, featuring major companies from the CEE countries and China.
In this year’s framework, Bulgaria and China have defined four potential priority areas for economic cooperation for 2018: High technology, investments, industrial partnership, joint ventures; Infrastructure; Agriculture; Tourism. And the leaders’ meeting will be devoted to the theme of DEEPENING THE OPEN AND PRAGMATIC COOPERATION FOR INCLUSIVE PROSPERITY.
Capital: Sofia
Official EU language(s): Bulgarian
EU member country: since 1 January 2007
Currency: Bulgarian lev BGN
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The venue
This year’s venue is the National Palace of Culture of Bulgaria, one of the landmark buildings of the capital Sofia. Read about the building and its history here.
address
1 Bulgaria sq., Sofia, Bulgaria