site.btaFinance Minister, German Ambassador Discuss Bilateral Trade and Economic Relations

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lyudmila Petkova and German Ambassador to Bulgaria Irene Maria Plank discussed ways for further intensification of their countries' traditionally very good trade and economic relations, the Finance Ministry said in a press release on Friday.

Petkova assured the diplomat that Bulgaria's caretaker government continues to pursue the national priorities of acceding to the eurozone, achieving full membership of the Schengen area and joining the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. She thanked Germany for continuing to support Bulgaria to achieve these goals.

The finance minister briefed Ambassador Plank on Bulgaria's progress in the technical preparations for adopting the single European currency and expressed hope that the relevant law will be approved shortly by the 50th National Assembly, which was elected on June 9. The two officials discussed the economic situation in the EU, the trade relations and the trade balance between Sofia and Berlin, the level of foreign direct investment, and mutual contributions to developing the main sectors of the two economies.