site.btaWTO Director-General Azevedo Visits Sofia

Sofia, February 27 (BTA) - Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevedo discussed Bulgaria's partnership within WTO at a meeting Tuesday, the government's information service said. Azevedo is in Sofia to attend an informal meeting of EU trade ministers.

Borissov said that one of the priorities of the ongoing Bulgarian EU Presidency is to work for strengthening the trust in the WTO and promotion of the multilateral trade system. As part of its EU Presidency, Bulgaria will initiate a discussion about the prospects of the trade system and ways for more effective functioning of the mechanisms for settlement of disputes.

Borissov voiced a hope that Tuesday's informal meeting of EU trade ministers in Sofia will discuss a constructive approach to continue the dialogue with the rest WTO member states so as to find a way to resolve the ongoing crisis in the Organization.

Borissov noted Bulgaria's economic and financial stability and other aspects of the country's development.

Later on Tuesday, the guest conferred with President Rumen Radev, Radev's press secretariat said. At the meeting Radev said that Bulgaria has made it its goal to create the necessary environment and build the capacity to attract strategic foreign investors and projects. The Head of State thanked for WTO's assistance to Bulgaria in covering the standards of modern trade. The two officials concurred that regional initiatives and support for regional integration contribute to the effective global trade.

Azevedu said that Bulgaria has experience and traditions in trading with various partners in the world, complies with the standards for openness and plays an important role in the intensification of the economic exchange with the countries in the region of the Western Balkans. He also noted Bulgaria's key position in Eastern Europe at the background of the rapidly developing digital services economy.