site.btaPresident Plevneliev: Bulgaria Becomes Preferred Place for Investments in High Technologies

President Plevneliev: Bulgaria Becomes Preferred Place for Investments in High Technologies

Bern/Sofia, October 14 (BTA) - Over the past few years Bulgaria
has become a preferred destination for setting up shop or
opening outsource facilities of leading high-tech companies such
as HP, SAP, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, R&M, Bulgarian President Rosen
Plevneliev said Monday, during a business forum in Bern attended
by nearly 70 Swiss business representatives. Plevneliev is on a
two-day visit to Switzerland.

The Bulgarian head of State said that the companies in this
sector report annual turnover growths of 10 per cent, while the
IT workforce increases by 4.8 per cent. The Bulgarian companies
in the sector export goods and services worth 1,200 million
euros.

Plevneliev said that Bulgaria is also becoming an established
manufacturer of automotive parts, which creates more
prerequisites for an even more active partnership with
established Swiss companies. "The production in this sector in
Bulgaria totals 1,500 million euro annually so that today, in 8
out of every 10 cars in Europe there are parts made in
Bulgaria," Plevneliev said.

He said that the leading country in automotive production in
Europe, Germany, is showing an ever bigger interest in the
Bulgarian automotive sector. Plevneliev noted the cooperation
between the governments of Bulgaria and of the German
Baden-Wuerttemberg province in the implementation of project
called Auto Park Bulgaria in the Danubian town of Vidin. Part of
the financing of the project will come from the EU Danubian
Strategy.

In Bern Plevneliev said that Bulgaria is gradually overcoming
the consequences of the downturn and is reporting a growth in
exports and its Gross Domestic Product. "Our objective is to
also increase the amount of foreign direct investment by means
of strategic partnerships," the President said.

Swiss investments in Bulgaria in 1996-2013 totalled nearly 1,300
million euros, but according to Plevneliev, the new framework
of economic partnership ensures that much more can be attained.
In Plevneliev's words, the model of partnership between the
Bulgarian and the Swiss businesses could make Bulgaria into a
hub of Swiss investments in Southeast Europe. The President also
outlined the opportunities the region provides as a whole,
noting that in the past few years it has been working hard for
cohesion and integration.