The world is changing rapidly. The global economic crisis has called into question the political decisions that have been made by all countries for decades and has led to a re-formulation of tools and aims. Adjustments to the new situation are necessary and entail considerable economic and social costs. The Balkan and Black Sea area is an important reference point for the European and global economy. Accordingly, the study of the economic development in the area is of great interest, engaging politicians and scientists alike. Under this framework, the matter of the relation between the area's countries and the E.U., the role of the banking system and the importance of the primary sector of the economy as an important developmental factor for the countries' economies are of great importance.

Anastasios Karasavvoglou is a professor in economics, is the editor in chief of the "International Journal of Economic Sciences and Applied Research" and the president of the annual International Conference "The Economies of Balkan and Eastern Europe Countries in the changed world". He has published many books and papers regarding immigration, regional development and labour market.Persefoni Polychronidou holds a PhD in Mathematics, has scientific interests in data analysis, in discrete transforms and realization of algorithms for fast processing data. She is assistant editor of the "International Journal of Economic Sciences and Applied Research" and has published several papers regarding empirical economic data.