“The Bulgarian side is ready to support Vietnamese companies, wishing to invest in Bulgaria in sectors where we have traditional advantages and such that ensure high added value and increased competitiveness of the economy.” This was stated by the Minister of Economy Emil Karanikolov at the opening of the Bulgarian-Vietnamese Business Forum in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Minister Karanikolov noted that his visit to Asia aims to strengthen the communication and to promote the trade and economic relations between the two countries. He expressed Bulgaria’s explicit support towards the dynamic progress of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations. “We are demonstrating such support to the most signing of this Agreement as soon as possible, which will send a strong signal of unity between Europe and Asia as a whole”, he also said.
According to him, the last years’ structural analysis shows that drugs, insecticides and herbicides, wheat, antibiotics and others take the largest share in Bulgaria’s exports to Vietnam, which is an indication that our country has the potential and interest in the realization of products in various fields, such as pharmaceutics, chemical industry, machine building and electrical engineering. In this regard, he expressed his readiness to support any specific business initiative in the form of exchanging business visits and delegations, and conducting business forums, to help companies on both sides to better understand the already existing opportunities for growth in our mutual trade relations.
At the Forum, Minister Karanikolov briefed the business representatives on key factors and models for the development of successful partnerships and investment projects in Bulgaria, including the Investment Promotion Act (IPA), the National Company “Industrial Zones” and Sofia Tech Park.
During his visit, Minister Karanikolov also met with his Vietnamese counterpart, Minister Chan Tuan An, at the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The Bulgarian Minister also welcomed the impressive results achieved in the socio-economic development and the international integration of Vietnam in recent years. Minister Karanikolov pointed out that the diversification and expansion of the mutual trade relations on the one hand, and the promotion of the investment cooperation on the other, are of extreme importance to the Ministry of Economy. He also said that the Bulgarian efforts in this regard are aimed at promoting the high-tech manufacturing in the country and increasing their share in the total Bulgarian export, at expanding the export list of Bulgaria with the production of machine-building and electrical industry, as well as other goods with high added value. The two have expressed their readiness for a long-term partnership and communication in areas of mutual interest.
At the end of the week in Ho Chi Min, which is the largest economic and business center in Vietnam, another Business Forum will take place, where the Bulgarian companies will have the opportunity to present to the Vietnamese market competitive goods and services of high quality, as well as to carry out joint projects and investments.
For the first five months of 2018 a total trade amount of USD 34.8mln. was achieved, of which Bulgarian exports for 11.1 million USD, consisting of: insecticides (2.4 million USD); medication (1.9 million USD); kaolin and kaolin clays (861 thousand USD); antibiotics (785 thousand USD); raw or unprocessed tobacco (625 thousand USD); medical instruments (466 thousand USD) tanks, cisterns (464 thousand USD), and others. The import from Vietnam for the same period amounts to 23.7 million USD and consists of: coffee (7.8 million USD); rubber footwear (2.4 million USD); nuts, cashews (1.6 million USD); pneumatic rubber tires (1.5 million USD.); plastic goods (794 thousand USD.); binders for the foundry industry (714 thousand USD) and others.