New perspectives for the economic relations between Bulgaria and Japan

On 9th May 2011, at a meeting with representatives of the Embassy of Japan in Sofia and the Commercial Counselor of the Bulgarian Embassy in Tokyo, the Vice-President of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Vice-Chairman of the Bulgarian-Japanese Economic Council with BCCI, Mr. Georgi Stoev commented on the possibilities for cooperation between the two countries in view of the difficult situation in Japan after the earthquake earlier this year.

Mr. Stoev said that a lot of companies, members of the BCCI, are ready to make donations and to send foods, drinks and other relief to Japan. At this moment, however, the Japanese government doesn’t have enough people and resources to transport and allocate these products on the spot. That is why Mr. Mori and Mr. Fukumori, Secretaries of the Embassy of Japan in Sofia explained that financial aid for the Japanese people is a priority. If anyone wishes to send goods and products as a relief for Japan, they will have to organize the delivery and allocation of these products or to engage some of their local partners with it.

The Vice-President of BCCI and BJEC shared some ideas about future initiatives, such as setting up a joint laboratory for examination of foods and beverages - to certify foods, goods and products. He also underlined that despite the difficult situation in Japan, BCCI continues to cooperate with various organizations providing training to representatives of Bulgarian companies and Bulgarian citizens /AOTS, ETP, etc./

The Japanese diplomats pointed out that Japanese companies which have interests in Bulgaria are disappointed with the changes made in the new Renewable Energy Act and some of the expected investments in the country will not be made now. At the moment, cooperation in the transport sector is also at a standstill. The project for expansion of Bourgas airport has been frozen.

Mr. Mori explained that Japanese companies are still interested in infrastructure development, water resource management and innovation. Yet, it should be kept in mind that Japanese companies offer unique technologies only in specific areas, while in all other cases it is a matter of competition with companies from all over the world and a struggle to reach better price – quality proportions.

Mr. Valchan Valchanov, Commercial Representative of Bulgaria in Tokyo informed that as a result of the visit of the Bulgarian business delegation organized by BCCI, which accompanied the Bulgarian Prime Minister to Tokyo at the beginning of this year, the approval of export of Bulgarian chicken meat to Japan is being finalized. Besides, in the land of the rising sun there is a certain interest to import Bulgarian honey. Due to the limited honey-production in China last year, Japanese import companies are now looking for new suppliers and are leaning towards Bulgaria.

Mr. Valchanov underlined that wine remains one of the main Bulgarian products, together with yoghurt, which in Japan is a synonym of Bulgaria. At the beginning of the year a Committee for Promotion of Bulgarian Wine was established in Tokyo with the participation of the Bulgarian Embassy, but for now it is not working actively due to the difficult situation after the earthquake.

At the end of the meeting the representatives of the Embassy of Japan in Sofia informed about the possibility Bulgarian companies to find partners in Japan more easily - via a programme of JETRO - Japan External Trade Organization on-line: www.jetro.go.jp

10.05.2011