site.btaDeputy Economy Minister Ivanova Visits Japan-Bulgaria Business Forum in Dusseldorf

115 POLITICS - GERMANY - JAPAN - BULGARIA - COOPERATION

Deputy Economy Minister Ivanova
Visits Japan-Bulgaria Business
Forum in Dusseldorf

May 30 (BTA) - The Bulgarian Economy Ministry will support all Japanese companies that are interested in investing in Bulgaria or in looking for trade and business cooperation with Bulgarian companies, Deputy Economy Minister Lilia Ivanova said Thursday at a Japan-Bulgaria business forum in Dusseldorf, quoted by her Ministry. Dusseldorf is a city acknowledged by many Japanese companies as the European business centre.

Ivanova noted that the growth of Bulgarian-Japanese trade in the past years and the successful examples of Japanese investments in this country are proof of the mutual interest for partnership.

In 2018, there was an expansion of bilateral trade, as trade turnover went up by nearly 30 per cent year-on-year, totalling 214.7 million U.S. dollars, Ivanova reported. Export increased by 4.4 per cent, totalling 49.3 million U.S. dollars, while import went up by 39.8 per cent, totalling over 165 million U.S. dollars.

"Priority sectors for cooperation, where Bulgaria usually takes precedence, are information and communication technologies (ICT) and outsourcing, which are also among the main driving forces for creating jobs. The ICT sector consists of nearly 57,000 professionals, and we expect a 10-per-cent increase of employees in 2019," Ivanova said. Another sector with a high potential for partnership is the car industry, as only in 2018, the sector attracted investments worth nearly 100 million euro from leading international producers of car components, and opened 3,200 new job placements. Ivanova noted that there can be a successful partnership in a number of other sectors such as electronics, the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, agriculture, and tourism.

Over 25 Japanese companies took part in the event, which was hosted by Japanese Ambassador to Bulgaria Masato Watanabe, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Dusseldorf, and the Japan External Trade Organization. RY/TH
/TH/