Bulgaria – India Business Forum at BCCI

During the visit of the Indian business delegation to Bulgaria (25 – 27 September), BCCI organized a bilateral business forum in cooperation with the Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ECSEPC), the Balkan – Indian Business Association (BIBA), Enterprise Europe network and the Bulgarian Embassy in Delhi.

The Vice-President of BCCI Georgi Stoev opened the forum and emphasized the Chamber’s excellent contacts and cooperation with partners from India at different levels.

During the opening of the forum, the Deputy Minister of Economy Aleksandar Manolev said that for the implementation of short-term projects, Indian companies will invest in Bulgaria more than USD 55 million. „For us, India is an important economic partner in the Asian region. The constant growth of the trade turnover and Bulgarian exports testifies to the potential and mutual interest for cooperation. Over the last 10 years bilateral trade increased nearly 3 times – from USD 79 million in 2006 to USD 215 million in 2016”, Deputy Minister Manolev said. He cited several examples of successfully implemented projects in the country, such as “Namdhari Seeds” in the field of agriculture, “Elder Pharmaceurticals” in the pharmaceutical industry, “Cine Grand” in the movie industry, etc.

“The advantages of the IT sector and outsourcing in our country are highly appreciated by Indian investors”, Aleksandar Manolev added and gave as an example the “Sutherland Global Services” company, which since 2008 has gradually opened four outsourcing centers in Bulgaria. Another successful example is the “Feuji” company, which opened its outsourcing and IT services center in Sofia earlier this year.

“Many Bulgarian companies also have the potential to carry out projects in India”, the Deputy Minister said. Several Bulgarian companies have already implemented investment projects in India and operate successfully on the Indian market in the field of internet technologies, packaging of bitumen, production of veterinary pharmaceuticals, etc. A major project in the field of renewable energy sources is also being developed, it became clear from his speech.

The Ambassador of India to Bulgaria H.E. Pooja Kapur also attended the forum and added that Bulgaria and India have very good political relations, but the potential in the economic sphere has not been fully utilized.

The Indian and Bulgarian companies got acquainted to the investment climate and business opportunities in Bulgaria and India. Numerous meetings were held with more than 30 representatives of Bulgarian companies.