site.btaUPDATED Sofia Hosts Bulgarian-Slovenian Business Forum

Sofia hosted a Bulgarian-Slovenian business forum on Tuesday. It was organized by the Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency (BSMEPA) in partnership with the business development agency SPIRIT Slovenia, and was opened by the visiting Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar. In her remarks, President Musar said that countries cannot develop without a strong economy.

Musar is on an official visit to Sofia at the invitation of President Rumen Radev.

Musar stressed that Slovenia is working to grow its economy. She noted that not all companies compete in a "world championship". What should be in the mind of every businessman is that a small Slovenia with two million inhabitants is not so ambitious, powerful, but it can cooperate.

Bulgaria and Slovenia should work to turn the Balkan Peninsula into a common hub for attracting investments. This is what representatives of the SPIRIT Slovenia Business Development Agency and the InvestBulgaria Agency (IBA) agreed on.

The focus of the Slovenian representatives was on international trade. They talked about Slovenia's transport connectivity, investments in infrastructure and transport corridors running through the country. The Slovenian side stressed the need to integrate the Western Balkans and pointed out that this could be done mainly through economic cooperation. They pointed out that Bulgaria could expand its exports by targeting the food market, because it has an established reputation as a producer of healthy food. They said that Bulgaria would be a "focus country" at this summer's upcoming AGRA agricultural machinery and produce show in Gornja Radgona.

SPIRIT Slovenia representatives pointed out that 2.14% of the country's gross domestic product is invested in research and development, at least half of the population speaks at least two languages, Slovenia has a trained and experienced workforce thanks to the high incomes and conditions it has achieved.

"Slovenia is at a crossroads and therefore we can develop very similar activities to Bulgaria. Slovenia can be a gateway to Europe, but this also depends on well-established links to markets. You have connectivity and it should be used," commented Tanja Drobic, secretary for internationalisation at SPIRIT Slovenia.