Deputy Minister Georgiev confers with Canadian counterpart Ian Shugart
06 December 2017 News
Deputy Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev conferred with his Canadian counterpart Ian Shugart. The two reviewed bilateral relations in all spheres of mutual interest. The meeting was part of the ongoing working visit of Georgiev to Canada.
Within the meeting the Bulgarian Deputy Foreign Minister expressed gratitude for Canada's support and particularly for that of Global Affairs Canada, for the successful resolution of the visa issue. He confirmed readiness for the two countries to continue the dialogue at expert level to ensure the normal functioning of the established procedure of visa-free travel for Bulgarian citizens.
Georgiev underscored that the provisional implementation of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) creates an entirely new environment to promote the potential in a broad range of fields, particularly to increase trade and investments, economic growth and opening new jobs. “I am very pleased to note my wonderful impressions from the Why Canada? Bulgarian-Canadian business forum which was held in Sofia under the aegis of the Canadian Embassy and dedicated to the implementation and the benefits from CETA. It is a priority for Bulgaria to increase Canadian investments in Bulgaria and to expand the volume and the variety of Bulgarian products on the Canadian market. This country has considerable potential to attract investments in a wide range of fields, including energy infrastructure, oil and natural gas extraction, agriculture, high-tech, telecommunications, etc. Bulgaria will encourage the efforts of Canadian firms interested in its market," Georgiev told Shugart.
On his part, Shugart wished Bulgaria success during the EU Presidency. “We are aware that you are faced with challenges, the biggest of which is Brexit, but we are convinced that you will cope successfully. Your willingness to work is obvious!”, the Canadian Deputy Foreign Minister said.
The easing of the visa regulations gives a new impetus to the Bulgarian-Canadian relations.
Easing the visa regime between Canada and Bulgaria opens new opportunities for promotion of bilateral relations. Bulgaria is ready to expand its partnership with Canada in key fields such as the fight against illegal migration, immigrant integration and human trafficking,” Deputy Minister Georg Georgiev said at a meeting with the Associate Deputy Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Richard Wex.
Deputy Minister Georgiev voiced satisfaction with the fact that the Canadian government has fulfilled its commitment for waiver of visas for Bulgarian citizens and added that this will have a number of positive effects on both countries. He noted that in response to the decision of the Canadian government, the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bulgaria will propose waiver of visa requirements for holders of Canadian diplomatic and official passports.
The Bulgarian Foreign Minister extended an invitation to Richard Wex to visit Bulgaria.
Georg Georgiev and Richard Wex voiced readiness that Bulgaria and Canada would exchange information on a regular basis about the fulfilment of the quantitative indicators used for evaluation of the visa regime. “We believe that the operational bilateral dialogue on this issue is of key importance for avoiding subsequent negative effects for both sides,” Georg Georgiev added.
More photos
