Trade turnover between the two countries reached EUR 12 billion in 2022. In the first quarter of 2023 alone, Bulgarian exports to Germany will exceed EUR 1.6 billion
Germany was Bulgaria’s largest foreign trade partner last year. This was said by Deputy Minister of Economy and Industry Irina Shtonova in Burgas at the opening of the ‘Nearshoring and diversification back to EU’ forum, which is organized by the sea municipality and the German-Bulgarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (GBCIC).
In her words, in 2022 the trade turnover between the two countries reached EUR 12 billion, which is an absolute record. ‘The upward trend continues this year, with Bulgarian exports exceeding EUR 1.6 billion in the first quarter of 2023 and imports from Germany exceeding EUR 1.5 billion, Shtonova said.
‘The assessment of the German business operating in our country is also encouraging. According to a survey conducted by GBCIC among German companies in Bulgaria, one hundred percent of them say they would invest in Bulgaria again. The German companies are also one of the biggest investors in our country’, said Deputy Minister Shtonova. She highlighted data from the BNB, according to which in the first quarter alone they have invested more than EUR 83 million in the country.
‘The Bulgarian economy is developing at a stable pace. Our goal is to focus on investments in areas that generate more added value,’ Deputy Minister Shtonova said.
She congratulated the guests on behalf of the Minister of Economy and Industry Bogdan Bogdanov for the stable and strong economic and trade relations between Germany and Bulgaria and assured them that the active cooperation between the Ministry he heads and the German-Bulgarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce will continue.
The aim of the forum, which opened at the International Congress Centre, is to position Bulgaria as an attractive business destination and to expand bilateral Bulgarian-German economic relations. It was attended by the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bulgaria H.E. Mrs Irene Maria Plank, the Mayor of Burgas — Dimitar Nikolov, as well as business representatives from both countries.