Sofia, Bulgaria: Tourism Minister Ilin Dimitrov stated that he discussed the creation of a unified ecosystem with the international Association JRE (Jeunes Restaurateurs). The main objective is to help the development of the sector in Bulgaria.
He emphasized that JRE-Jeunes Restateurs is an international association founded in 1974. Today, the Association has become a leading professional structure of young and talented chefs with more than 350 restaurants and 160 hotels in 15 countries worldwide.
“We commented on this with Hans van Manen, director of the Association Jeunes Restaurateur D`Europe, and Gasper Puhan – sommelier and owner of a renowned A la carte restaurant in Slovakia, which, besides its incredible cuisine, offers its visitors a wine list with over 400 local and foreign labels”.
“The leading Bulgarian chefs Tsvetomir Nikolov, Veselin Kalev and Vladislav Penov also attended the meeting,” said Minister Dimitrov.
He noted that Cooperation with JRE professionals will help the tourism Ministry immensely in the process of preparing young staff in Bulgaria.
They will have the unique chance to touch the mastery of eminent names to incorporate into their training, with good practices demonstrated by top chefs who are proven names on the European scene, thus enhancing the culinary culture.
The Tourism Minister also mentioned that there are young, ambitious and seeking chefs in this Association. This creates a strong bond between members, contributing to the culinary arts’ stability and overall development.
He said, “We will be glad to share our experience with our Bulgarian colleagues,” Gasper Puhan emphasized. In their culinary creations, JRE chefs combine their passion for tradition with sustainability and local produce to create unique new dishes. Their craftsmanship is a brand of high standard and quality worldwide”.
This step will bring the tourism Ministry closer to creating an ecosystem and to the moment when Bulgarian restaurants will acquire prestigious Michelin stars.
Deputy Minister of Tourism Irena Georgieva and Executive Directors of the Employment Agency Polina Marinova and the Chief Labor Inspectorate Ekaterina Asenova participated in the conversation.
Tourism Minister informed that Steps have already been taken to increase the teams of the Employment Agency and Migration Directorate of the Ministry of Home Affairs, engaged in processing employers’ applications for access to the labour market in Bulgaria of non-EU workers, which will lead to faster issuance of relevant permits.
Organizational measures are also provided to improve coordination and optimize the procedure for exchanging documents between responsible institutions, which will facilitate and accelerate the recruitment of seasonal employment staff in the tourism sector.
Minister Lazarov presented the conditions and facilities for hiring foreign workers regulated in the labour migration agreements Bulgaria signed with Georgia, Moldova and Armenia. He stressed that the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy will continue to work to identify other countries for cooperation in this field.
A relief order for employers to submit documents when applying to hire a more significant number of foreign workers is also being considered.