NEWS DEAL. Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) Director General Kiril Valchev (center) and Philippine News Agency (PNA) Executive Editor Demetrio B. Pisco Jr. sign a cooperation agreement in Sofia City, Bulgaria on Tuesday (April 4, 2023). PNA Deputy Executive Editor Luis A. Morente (right) witnessed the signing of the cooperation agreement between the two news agencies. (Photo courtesy of BTA)
MANILA — State-run Philippine News Agency (PNA) hopes to bring the best of what the country can offer closer to Bulgaria, especially potential tourists by inking a cooperation deal with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) -- the second of its kind with a European Union (EU) member state.
The agreement, formally signed in capital Sofia on April 4, would facilitate the exchange of news and media content between the two agencies.
Signing for the PNA are its Executive Editor Demetrio B. Pisco Jr. and Deputy Executive Editor Luis A. Morente and Director-General Kiril Valchev for the BTA.
"I think revitalizing our relations with the Bulgarian news agency is beneficial to our countries considering that we are set to mark 50 years of diplomatic relations this year," Pisco said Thursday.
"[O]bviously we will be exchanging a lot of news on travel and tourism considering its universal appeal and its significant contribution to the global economy. Both countries have world-renowned and world-class destinations that would surely interest Filipino and Bulgarian nationals in the near future," he added.
Bulgarian tourists to the Philippines are seen to increase as the country's coronavirus restrictions further eased.
Latest data from the Department of Tourism show that Bulgarian visitors already reached 725 in the first two months of 2023 alone.
Last year, the total number of Bulgarian travelers to the Philippines was at 999.
The cooperation agreement, which Pisco described as “historic” for the PNA, came just in time for the 50th anniversary of the Philippines and Bulgaria’s diplomatic relations, which was formally established on Nov. 16, 1973.
Bulgaria has no diplomatic mission in the Philippines. Its nearest embassy is located in Vietnam.
Similarly, the Philippines does not have an embassy in the southeastern European nation but Philippine Ambassador Frank Cimafranca serves as the non-resident envoy there.
Despite this, both nations continue to look at ways to further “encourage” bilateral cooperation, particularly on trade and investment.
Last January 2023, Cimafranca and Bulgarian President Rumen Radev acknowledged the need ”to resume the political consultations this year".
Prior to the signing in Bulgaria, the PNA also signed a news exchange deal with Italy's ANSA or Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata on March 30 at the Philippine Embassy in Rome. (PNA)
