As Vice-Chairman of the PABSEC Cultural, Educational and Social Affairs Committee, Zoltan Pek chaired the meeting. President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria Tsveta Karayancheva, PABSEC Vice-President Petar Kanev, member of the Serbian delegation Zoltan Pek, Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Tourism Lyuben Kanchev and PABSEC Secretary-General Asaf Hajiyev gave the keynote speeches. In addition to Serbia, the meeting was attended by the delegations of Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, the Russian Federation, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine.

The topic of the meeting was the current state and future prospects for the development of tourism in the BSEC member states and the Committee accepted a recommendation and report on the topic, to be adopted at the 52nd PABSEC General Assembly in Yerevan in November. MP Zoltan Pek was the rapporteur for the recommendation on the current state and future prospects for the development of tourism in the BSEC member states. He spoke about the significant growth of tourism in the BSEC region which is one of its assets that contributes to regional cooperation, regional economic growth and the shaping of the region’s image as an attractive tourist destination. Pek said that tourism also contributes to close regional cooperation in the fields of culture, education, environmental protection, transport and the youth. He went on to highlight the important role national parliaments play by providing the legislative framework conducive to the development of tourism and fostering cooperation in the field.

The next meeting of the PABSEC Cultural, Educational and Social Affairs Committee is scheduled to take place in May 2019 in Georgia, with the central topic of pension systems in the BSEC member states.