Bulgarian and Japanese companies join forces to develop drones
Bulgaria is open to Japanese business. We want accelerated industrial cooperation with Japan. This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Investments and Industry Alexander Poulev during a meeting with representatives of a Japanese business delegation on an official visit to Bulgaria. The delegation is headed by Mr Fukushiro Nukaga, a Japanese statesman, former Minister of Finance and former Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan.
During the meeting, opportunities for deepening bilateral economic and industrial cooperation were discussed, as well as specific possibilities for partnerships between Bulgarian and Japanese companies in the food and beverage industry and aviation, including drone manufacturing.
The Deputy Prime Minister pointed out that Bulgaria has a number of competitive advantages for attracting Japanese investment – a strategic geographical location, a well-educated and skilled workforce, and access to the European market. “Bulgaria is establishing itself as a kind of gateway for Japanese business into Europe,” he emphasised.
Poulev highlighted the three main strands of the government programme that create opportunities for more active economic partnership with Japan: attracting investment and industrialisation; digitalisation and the deployment of artificial intelligence and high technology; and the modernisation of infrastructure.
“We are setting investment as a national priority – stimulating high-tech production and diversifying future investment flows. We want to expand our partnerships beyond Bulgaria’s traditional markets,” he stressed. Among the priority areas for cooperation, he cited energy, high technology, artificial intelligence, transport connectivity and industrialisation.
“We are open to learning from Japan’s experience as one of the world’s technology leaders. We want Japanese companies to contribute their expertise and know-how to the processes of economic transformation in Bulgaria,” Poulev said.
According to him, digitalisation and the deployment of artificial intelligence will be key to modernising both the state administration and the economy. “Japan’s experience and technological solutions could be an extremely valuable partner in this process,” the Deputy Prime Minister noted.
As a third strategic strand, Poulev highlighted the modernisation of infrastructure. “We are putting in place an entirely new legislative framework for public-private partnerships. Through it, we will mobilise private capital to modernise the country’s infrastructure – energy, transport connectivity and industrial zones. We want to be more ambitious and invite Japanese companies to take part in all the processes linked to this economic transformation,” he said.
During the talks, the Japanese representatives expressed specific interest in partnerships with Bulgarian companies in the food and beverage industry, aviation, drone manufacturing and logistics.
It emerged that Bulgarian-made machinery already underpins technological solutions used by a Japanese company that offers farming know-how and solutions in the Indian market. This is a concrete example of the potential of Bulgarian manufacturing and of the opportunities for building new value chains between Bulgaria and Japan.
It was noted that representatives of Japanese freight forwarding and logistics companies are launching a partnership with Bulgarian companies for joint development work and the design of drones meeting Japanese technical requirements and specifications.
Among the possibilities discussed is enabling the drones produced to gain access to the Japanese aviation sector through the relevant permits. “We want to turn the good relations between Bulgaria and Japan into concrete economic projects, investment, production and joint technologies. Our aim is for the friendship between the two peoples to carry an ever stronger economic and industrial dimension,” Poulev said.
The Japanese delegation also includes Kaloyan Mahlyanov – Kotoōshū, who has made a significant contribution to the development of bilateral relations between Bulgaria and Japan. The meeting was also attended by the Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to Japan, Marieta Arabadzhieva, and the Ambassador of Japan to Bulgaria, H.E. Chikahisa Sumi.