site.btaBulgaria's Machinery and Equipment Industry Continues Developing on Global Scale

Bulgaria exported machinery and equipment worth EUR 2.4 billion in 2022 and EUR 1.4 billion in the first half of 2023, up by about 9% on an annual basis, according to data of the Bulgarian National Bank cited on Tuesday by Deputy Economy and Industry Minister Ivaylo Shotev at the opening of the 15th edition of MachTech&InnoTech Expo at the Inter Expo Center in Sofia. More than 150 companies are taking part in the exhibition.

This means that the Bulgarian machinery and equipment industry continues developing on a global scale because modern technologies are being integrated into the new equipment and the output of Bulgaria's industry, the Deputy Minister said. Mechanical engineering contributes 7% of the value added in the Bulgarian economy and accounts for 30,000 jobs.

Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association President Vasil Velev, who attended the opening, said the exhibition would help the modernization of Bulgarian companies and they would emerge stronger from the recession which is beginning. It was expected to be shallow and short - now it turns out it is not that shallow, but hopefully it will be short because the Bulgarian industry is the backbone of the economy, Velev said.

Bulgarian Industrial Association Chairman Dobri Mitrev said the exhibition proved that despite the crises and obstacles facing the world and especially manufacturing for four years now, it is working and enterprising people who have dreams despite the crisis do not stop realizing them.

Exhibitors from Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Romania, Austria, Czechia and China are gathered on an area of 10,000 square meters in Sofia until October 6. The companies are presenting the latest in machine tools, welding technology, machine design, hydraulic and pneumatic systems, laser technology and environmental protection in industrial processes. Innovations in industrial automation systems, robotics, electronics, software, 3D printing and design can also be seen at the exhibition.