The Bulgarian Ambassador to the U.S. H.E. Elena Poptodorova, together with the American Ambassador in Sofia H.E. James Warlick, held a week-long diplomatic road show across the U.S. The tour entitled “U.S. – Bulgaria - Building Bridges through Business” ended Friday, May 20th and was aimed at attracting U.S. business interest to Bulgaria and educating about the new economic opportunities following Bulgaria’s EU accession.

The diplomatic tour led the delegation to the cities of Chicago, Houston, Phoenix and San Francisco, with a focus on R&D, renewable energy, oil and gas, information technologies, agriculture, biotechnology, and mining. Broad business outreach events, particularly designed to match up with specific companies in those areas were held at the International Trade Association of Greater Chicago, Houston City Center, West Houston Chamber of Commerce and San Francisco Global Trade Council. Some of the leading participating companies were Savage Brothers, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Transatlantic Petroleum, Amgen, Hewlett-Packard, and many more.

In Chicago both Ambassadors participated in a round table discussion on R&D and met with the International Trade Association of Greater Chicago, where McDonald’s, Kraft Foods and Jonson Controls briefed prospective investors and exporters about their work in Bulgaria.

The highlight of the talks in Houston was the energy sector. Possible Bulgarian-American cooperation in diversification and energy efficiency was identified by Ambassadors Poptodorova and Warlick. They both stressed upon the need for transparency and environmental safety in the energy field. The delegation also met with ExxonMobil and Chevron, which interest in competing for offshore oil and gas exploration and development of shale gas resources in Bulgaria could amount to some of the most significant investments in the Bulgarian energy sector.

The mining sector was the main focus of the Phoenix visit. The Ambassadors’ talk was supported by the CEO of Dundee Precious Metals, who shared his company’s excellent experience in Bulgaria and presented the state and prospects before the country’s mining industry.

The Road Show concluded in San Francisco with a productive visit to the Silicon Valley, where Bulgaria was recognized as a potential regional leader in the expansion of cutting edge technologies, namely in the fields of information technologies and biotechnology.

The political, legislative and macroeconomic factors favoring foreign investors were underscored continuously. An increased investment interest was noted among the US companies towards Bulgaria. As outlined by Ambassador Poptodorova, the trip that featured the success stories of major US companies in Bulgaria, also served to advance the interaction between small and medium sized enterprises as a powerful vehicle of more vigorous and sustainable business cooperation. The meetings greatly benefited from the fact that the largest foreign investor in Bulgaria for 2010 was the U.S.

In addition to targeting US investors, the Ambassadors’ trip also sought to reach out to the Bulgarian expatriate community in the U.S. Realizing the importance of the people-to-people contacts for the growing relations between the two countries, meetings with the Bulgarian diaspora were held in every city of the road show. The networking events were received with overwhelming interest.

The 2011 Road Show was the second edition of the initiative to promote Bulgaria as an investment destination in the U.S. In May 2007 Ambassador Elena Poptodorova and then US Ambassador to Bulgaria John Beyrle visited San Jose, San Francisco, Denver, New York and Boston.