site.btaEC Approves Economy Ministry's Project for Single Investment Portal Directing All Administrative Activities towards Potential Investors

The European Commission has approved a project of the Economy and Industry Ministry for building a single investment portal, which aims to direct all administrative activities towards servicing potential investors in Bulgaria, outgoing Economy and Industry Minister Bogdan Bogdanov said on Thursday as quoted by his Ministry. Bogdanov was speaking at a conference on economic security and investment screening, organized in Sofia by Bulgaria's Center for the Study of Democracy and the Washington-based Center for International Private Enterprise.

The event was attended by members of the diplomatic corps in Bulgaria, including ambassadors Kenneth Merten of the US, Olesya Ilashchuk of Ukraine, Brandusa Predescu of Romania and Jes Brogaard Nielsen of Denmark, Norway's Consul General Ventsislava Yanchovska, Swiss Embassy Deputy Head of Mission Rolf Ott, Italian Embassy Deputy Head of Mission Edoardo Di Paolo, South Korean Embassy Deputy Head of Mission Cho Ji-i and Montenegrin Charge d'Affaires Radivoje Brajovic.

The outgoing Economy and Industry Minister said the investment portal will be the missing functioning mechanism and the main instrument to track the overall process and identify and eliminate delays. It will provide potential investors with access to a database and enable them to monitor the entire cycle.

The aim is to digitize the investment process and achieve greater efficiency on the part of the administration, Bogdanov added. He noted that his Ministry will also use the investment portal as an anti-corruption measure. Enabling the tracking of every single inquiry from investors and file movement at any given moment will shed light on the process and reduce the likelihood of delays, Bogdanov said. The outgoing minister added that the aim is also to cut the time it takes an investor to assess Bulgaria.

Bogdanov noted that the adoption of the investment screening legislation is an important step in bringing Bulgarian law in compliance with the overall requirements for the protection of not only the economic interest and development of the country but also of the EU and its strategic partners. He added that economic security is becoming a key element of national security.

The outgoing minister said that aligning the instrument with national and European priorities and business dynamics is another important requirement to create a functioning mechanism ensuring economic security and investment screening.

On February 22, Bulgaria amended its Investment Promotion Act to set up a Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Inter-Agency Screening Council. Scrutinizing inbound foreign investment is considered a critical policy to ensure continuing access to productive and transparent capital flows from the G7 countries. The Screening Council is in charge of granting permission for FDI to foreign applicants who meet at least two of a set of conditions. "Screening" is defined as a procedure allowing to assess, investigate, authorize, condition, prohibit or unwind FDI. Under this law, screening will be conducted on any FDI coming from persons who are engaged in activities regulated by the Act on Administrative Regulation of Economic Activities Associated with Oil and Petroleum Products, as well as any FDI from sources in Russia or Belarus.