Minister of Economy and Industry Bogdan Bogdanov invited Egyptian companies to invest in Bulgaria. This happened during his participation in the first meeting of the Joint Cooperation Commission Bulgaria-Egypt, whose aim is to coordinate the political guidelines of the Bulgarian-Egyptian relations and to follow up the implementation of the agreements and cooperation programs
The first meeting of the Commission took place in Egypt and was chaired by the foreign ministers of the two countries – Mariya Gabriel and Sameh Shoukry.
‘I believe that more and more Egyptian companies will benefit from Bulgaria’s advantages as a business and investment destination,’ Minister Bogdanov told the forum. He announced that our country is ready to support Egyptian companies willing to invest in Bulgaria in sectors providing high added value and increased competitiveness of the economy. Bogdanov revealed the opportunities of the industrial sites in the country, where modern infrastructure has been built for positioning production facilities.
The visit is aimed at deepening trade and economic relations and investments in the fields of energy, transport, defence, innovation, tourism and others. Egypt is our country’s largest foreign trade partner in the Middle East and Africa region. For the last 11 months of 2023, a total trade of USD 1,028.52 million was achieved, including USD 682.90 million in exports from Bulgaria and USD 2,345.62 million in imports from Egypt.
In 2022, trade between the two countries was worth USD 828.34 million, registering a growth of 38.75%. For 2022, exports from Bulgaria reach USD 567.90 million, while imports from Egypt are worth USD 260.44 million.
During participation in the first meeting of the Joint Commission for Cooperation Bulgaria-Egypt Minister Bogdan Bogdanov held a meeting with Mr. Ahmed Samir – Minister of Trade and Industry of Egypt.
At the meeting, various areas of cooperation in the field of industrial zones, pharmacy, electricity, and the construction of a “food security hub” were discussed. The possibility of opening a center for attracting young experts and students to Bulgaria was discussed. An important element of the talks was the forthcoming 2nd session of the Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation (JCC), which is to be held in Cairo, Egypt.
During the first meeting of the Bulgaria-Egypt Joint Cooperation Commission important bilateral agreements were signed in the fields of defence, energy and others.
The Bulgarian delegation in Egypt also included the Minister of Transport and Communications Georgi Gvozdeykov, the Minister of Defence Todor Tagarev, the Minister of Innovation and Growth Milena Stoicheva, the Minister of Energy Rumen Radev and the Deputy Minister of Economy Nikolay Pavlov.