On 5 December 2023, an official ceremony was held at the University of National and World Economy (UNWE) for the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Association of Bulgarian Insurers (ABZ) and the university. The agreement envisages joint initiatives aimed at supporting the education of UNWE students, organizing public lectures, conferences, academies, and discussions, offering internship opportunities at insurance companies, exchanging information, and developing joint projects.
On behalf of UNWE Rector Prof. Dr. Dimitar Dimitrov, Prof. Dr. Tsvetana Stoyanova, Vice-Rector for Institutional and Business Cooperation and Student Policies, explained that one of the university’s priorities is building partnerships with the business sector. She expressed hope that the collaboration with ABZ would open new career development opportunities for students.
Yuri Kopach, Chair of the ABZ Management Board and UNWE alumnus, emphasized that cooperation between the business sector and education lays the foundation for a successful professional future for young people. “There are many ways to effectively support the educational process and, most importantly, to link it with practical experience. Among them are various discussion formats with students, the organization of an insurance academy, and internship opportunities within insurance companies. I also propose considering an annual themed conference on current sectoral issues,” he noted.
Nina Kolchakova, Secretary General of ABZ and coordinator of the memorandum, presented the first initiative under the agreement – a donation of 20 copies of ABZ’s anniversary publication, which includes the analytical report “Insurance in Bulgaria – Economic Footprint and Development Challenges”, prepared by the Institute for Market Economics (IME) on behalf of ABZ. “This is the first report of its kind in Bulgaria. Its main goal is to outline the overall economic ‘footprint’ of insurance activities on domestic demand in the national economy. We are confident that it will be extremely useful both for lecturers in insurance and for students, as it is a valuable source of information on the insurance sector,” said Nina Kolchakova.
The signing ceremony was also attended by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Valeri Apostolov, Head of the Department of Human Resources and Social Protection, under which the “Insurance and Social Policy” program is taught, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Galina Dimitrova, Scientific Secretary of the Department. She and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Irina Markova are coordinators of the agreement on behalf of UNWE. “The participation of practitioners from insurance companies in the lecture process will raise the quality of education for our students,” stated Assoc. Prof. Apostolov. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Galina Dimitrova emphasized that the department has 32 years of experience in training bachelor’s and master’s students in “Insurance and Social Policy.” She thanked ABZ for the donation and noted that the report would be very useful for students.
Representatives of ABZ also visited the UNWE Library, where they delivered the 20 copies of ABZ’s anniversary edition, which contains the report “Insurance in Bulgaria – Economic Footprint and Development Challenges” along with a retrospective gallery tracing the historical development of insurance in Bulgaria.
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