Austrian companies are about 10% of the largest foreign investors in Bulgaria and they are concentrated in almost all sectors of our economy: electricity distribution, telecommunications, energy, banking and finance, trade, heavy and light industries. This became clear during a meeting between the Minister of Economy and Industry Nikola Stojanov and the Ambassador of Austria in Bulgaria N. Pr. Andrea Ikiс-Böhm.
‘I hope that the initiative we launched in the format of ‘breakfast with investors’ contributed to improving the dialogue and business environment for the representatives of the Austrian business,’ Minister Stojanov said and added that the Bulgarian state will continue to work for the positive development of bilateral economic relations between the two countries. ‘Austria is the second largest investor in Bulgaria with a total of more than EUR 5 billion investments in our country,’ Nikola Stojanov added.
Minister Stojanov stressed that Bulgaria has the potential to develop as a regional leader in the field of digital technologies and innovation, as well as in the outsourcing of services. In this regard, it is a priority to launch more projects between companies from both countries in this field and to promote research and development. In his words, other promising areas of bilateral cooperation include the Transport Infrastructure Sector and Technologies for Environmental Protection and Energy Saving.
The meeting was also attended by Wolfgang Till, Deputy Head of Mission and Philippe Kupfer, Commercial Counsellor at the Embassy of the Republic of Austria in Bulgaria.