The Economist’s “The World in 2018” annual look-ahead forum took place in Sofia, within the bounds of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU.

At the forum, held in Sofia for the first time, Lilyana Pavlova, Minister for the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union pointed out that Bulgaria is second in the world in the number of mineral springs after Iceland with 200 different kinds of mineral water, third in Europe in historical artifacts after Italy and Greece, first in lavender oil and rose oil exports, and is one of the most stable European countries with an economic growth rate of almost 4 percent, external debt of 26 percent in relation to the GDP with a downward trend, inflation of 1.3 percent and unemployment of 6 percent. Addressing the participants, Minister Pavlova stated that Bulgaria was proud of its alphabet and that during the rotating Presidency the Cyrillic alphabet would be used.