Trade and investments between Bulgaria and Turkey withstood the financial and economic crisis

On 11th July 2011, in Sofia a Bulgarian – Turkish Business Forum was held. The event was organized jointly by the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), the Turkish Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) and the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey (DEIK) and enjoyed tremendous interest. The Presidents of Bulgaria and Turkey participated in the concluding part of the Forum, which encouraged over 200 entrepreneurs from the two countries to attend the event and find common interests in the following areas: construction and infrastructure, telecommunications, electrical engineering, automobile industry, transport and tourism, agriculture, food industry, light industry.

The President of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Tsvetan Simeonov greeted the participants and said that despite the world economic crisis trade turnover between Bulgaria and Turkey grew several times. Investments have also increased and some Turkish companies intend to further expand their investments in Bulgaria. “The business intends to move forward even in difficult times. Now we aim to reduce formalities in the bilateral relations, to achieve faster border crossing and cooperation by the administration”, the President of BCCI said.

“Bilateral trade grew in size, but companies from the two countries need to work for the production and trade of high value added goods”, Mr. Simeonov informed. He expressed BCCI’s readiness to assist all companies and partners both in Bulgaria and Turkey.

The Chairman of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey, Mr. Rıfat Hisarcıklıoğlu, stated that the number of participants in the forum is indicative of the business’s interest. Turkish investments in Bulgaria grew in the past years and reached 700 million Euro. There are 334 active Bulgarian companies in Turkey and over 3000 Turkish companies in Bulgaria. Mr. Hisarcıklıoğlu said that he counts on the new business opportunities which the upcoming meeting of Turkish, Bulgarian and Greek businesses in Çanakkale, Turkey in the autumn will provide.

In the afternoon, the President of the Republic of Bulgaria H.E. Georgi Parvanov and his Turkish counterpart, H.E. Abdullah Gül joined the event. “We have come to close the Forum, but it turns out we are turning a new page in the business relations between our two countries”, President Parvanov said.

According to President Abdullah Gül, Turkey is the sixth economy in Europe. The country is a member of G20 and last year had an economic growth of 9.6%. He invited Bulgarian companies to take advantage of the opportunities the Turkish market provides.

While closing the forum, Mr. Simeonov noted that the most important thing is to continue developing the business relations between the two countries. Surely, there are some problems, but there is desire and ambition to resolve them. He expressed his gratitude towards the Regional Chambers of Commerce and Industry, which have played a significant role in developing multiple bilateral projects. The President of BCCI thanked the Presidents of Bulgaria and Turkey for clearly stating their support for the business.