site.btaInvestment Authority to Certify Over 20 Projects in 2017

Investment Authority to Certify Over 20 Projects in 2017

Pravets, Sofia Region, December 4 (BTA) - The InvestBulgaria Agency (IBA) expects to certify over 20 investment projects in 2017. They will total more than 400 million leva and will create 6,000 jobs.

Twenty-eight projects worth 450 million leva in total are at a preliminary stage, aiming to create over 5,000 jobs, IBA Executive Director Stamen Yanev told a seminar for journalists on Sunday. These ventures fall within the seven priority areas defined by the agency: computer and communication technology; electrical installations; machinery and equipment; textiles and apparel; chemical products; products from rubber, plastics and other nonmetal materials; and food products.

The top three projects include two ventures in the field of auto-making and high technology. There are also initiatives related to outsourcing, logistics and transport, as well as undertakings to build regional warehouses for products of small and medium-sized enterprises. The prospective investors in these 28 incipient projects are hesitating between operating in Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia or Poland.

Asked whether the political events in Bulgaria have alienated foreign investors, Yanev said he has not heard of any investor giving up on the country.

The difficulties confronting foreign investors in Bulgaria have to do with the performance of the public administration and with staff recruitment, among other things. According to Yanev, the country boasts a fine rate of foreign investment. Globally, he said, investments are on the rise, but they are made mainly in the domain of mergers and acquisitions, and less often in greenfield ventures, which are the typical type of investments in Bulgaria.

Between January and November 2016, the IBA certified 18 new investment projects totalling 297.4 million leva and creating 4,044 jobs. Their number is expected to increase to 24 by the end of the year.

This compares with 12 projects certified in 2015, whose total value was under 200 million leva. The IBA chief expects that this year foreign direct investment in Bulgaria will remain at the level of last year.