site.btaAction Plan Signed with Japan to Bolster Economic Ties

Sofia, June 26 (BTA) - Deputy Economy Minister Alexander Manolev and Japanese Ambassador to Bulgaria Masato Watanabe on Tuesday signed an action plan to establish a Japanese Business Forum as a new platform for business cooperation between the two countries. The plan was signed at the beginning of a Bulgaria-Japan business forum in Sofia, which was opened by Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev.

In this new format of cooperation, the Bulgarian Economy Ministry will work in partnership with the Japanese Embassy to improve the business environment in Bulgaria, advertise the country as an investment destination, promote joint projects, organize business events and present Bulgaria and Japan, Manolev said.

In 2017, bilateral trade hit a nine-year high of 163 million US dollars but it was still far below the two countries' potential, Manolev said. He noted that Tuesday's event was aimed to boost bilateral trade and to encourage new investments.

According to Manolev, Bulgaria will propose projects in high-added-value sectors such as information and communication technology and auto-making. Other areas of interest are mechanical engineering and business outsourcing. Japanese companies like Sumitomo Electric, Toshiba, Mitsubishi and Toyota already have successful operations in Bulgaria, he said. One out of every five cars in Europe has Bulgarian-made parts in it, he noted, expressing a hope that more Bulgarian parts will be used in Japanese cars.

Some Japanese companies are interested specifically in Bulgaria's industrial zones such as Bozhourishte (near Sofia) and Trakia (near the southern city of Plovdiv), Manolev said.

Deputy PM Donchev noted that Bulgaria offers an excellent investment environment with a very favourable tax system, stability and low input costs. Donchev expects Tuesday's forum to yield results in the coming months. He said the Bulgarian government will provide assistance to make that happen. The companies participating in the forum are active in a wide range of industries, from food production to information technology, he said, adding that he hopes for more investments. There are five Japanese plants in various parts of Bulgaria, and expectations are that more plants will be built, Donchev said.

Bulgarian exports to Japan are dominated by food and cosmetics but the list should be expanded by including high-added-value products, he said.

A delegation of the Japan External Trade Organization including over 30 Japanese companies took part in the Sofia forum. The event came after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Bulgaria in January and the two countries agreed to boost bilateral economic cooperation.