site.btaBulgarian Company Awarded Gold Licence for Investment Project in Egypt

The Bulgarian company Balkan Agricultural Ltd. has been awarded a gold license for an investment project in Egypt, the Bulgarian Embassy in Cairo said on Facebook.

Egypt’s Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, Hassan El-Khatib, presented a total of nine gold licenses during a ceremony at the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) on December 31, 2024. The event was attended by GAFI CEO Hossam Heiba, representatives of Egypt’s Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade, the business community, and Bulgaria’s Ambassador to Egypt, Deyan Katrachev.

Balkan Agricultural Ltd. was recognized for its project to build and commission a plant for the production of tomato paste, and vegetable and fruit concentrates in the city of 6th of October near Cairo. The investment is estimated at approximately EUR 20 million and is expected to create some 80 jobs in its first phase. Eighty percent of the production will be designated for export.

Over the past two years, several Bulgarian companies in fields such as high technology, software engineering, and outsourcing have entered the Egyptian market, creating dozens of jobs, the Embassy’s publication further said.

Trade volume between Bulgaria and Egypt has been growing. During the first eight months of 2024, bilateral trade reached a record level of USD 1.4 billion. Of this, Bulgarian exports to the North African country amounted to USD 546.56 million, with leading exports including petroleum products, wheat, refined copper, carbonates, sunflower, and safflower oil. For the same period, Egyptian exports to Bulgaria were valued at USD 868.53 million, mainly consisting of crude petroleum, nitrogen fertilizers, iron, and ammonia.