Nickolay Mladenov: The Foreign Ministry and Bulgarian business should be partners
20 December 2011 News
Bulgarian business has growth opportunities in the Gulf and Central Asia as an alternative to the traditional markets of the Member States of the European Union, Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov said during a meeting with representatives of Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria today.
He said that key investment destinations for Bulgaria in the future will be Qatar, Iraq, Libya and Tunisia.
Minister Mladenov emphasised the importance of the implementation of specific investment projects in tourism, food production, agriculture, construction, transport and logistics, the pharmaceutical industry, electricity exports and the chemical industry.
“These are markets that are challenging, but also a great opportunity for expansion of Bulgarian business and we are ready to support the efforts of companies to enter these markets,” Mladenov said.
At the meeting, various forms of co-operation between business and administration, along with serious issues and steps to resolve them, were discussed.
Participants agreed that the efforts and support of Bulgarian diplomatic missions abroad are key to business development. Minister Mladenov said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was working actively to achieve greater flexibility in Bulgaria’s visa policy, as well as increasing the number of countries where visa services are offered through the extended visa service. Up to now, such centres have been set up in Russia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Bahrain.