“Vietnam will be a bridge for Bulgarian goods to enter ASEAN, and Bulgaria will also become a gateway for Vietnamese goods to enter and dominate the EU market,” said the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Rosen Plevneliev at the Vietnam – Bulgaria Business Forum jointly held by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), Ho Chi Minh branch ( VCCI-HCM) and the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI).
To make Bulgaria a gateway for goods from Vietnam to the EU, President Rosen Plevneliev stated that Bulgaria is always willing to give Vietnam necessary logistics infrastructure, particularly ports in the Black Sea and the Danube River, as well as in industrial parks in Bulgaria. Accordingly, Vietnam can export goods to Bulgaria, being directly processed at ports and then imported into the EU market. This method will contribute significantly to increasing the efficiency of economic and trade cooperation between Vietnam and Bulgaria in the near future. President Rosen Plevneliev emphasised: “Based on the foundation of the good traditional relations between the two countries, Bulgaria is ready to share experience and support Vietnam in its strong fields such as energy pharmaceutical, healthcare, national defence, tourism, education and environment.”
Currently Bulgarian enterprises are ready to invest in Vietnam and promote cooperation with Vietnamese enterprises on the basis of mutual benefit. Under the context of the EU and Vietnam working towards signing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and the ASEAN member countries building an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015, economic cooperation opportunities between the two countries are plentiful and expected to create momentum and new achievements.
BCCI’s representative also said that at present, industrial park infrastructure of Bulgaria has attracted strong investment and is developing very fast. Also, there are incentives, improved policies on investment attraction and equalized policies between domestic and foreign investors. For Vietnam, the areas in which Bulgaria and Vietnam can promote cooperation and trade are diverse and may include medical, pharmaceuticals, agricultural ecology, information technology – telecommunications, tourism, energy, and manpower training in the field of atomic energy for Vietnam.
Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City’s People’s Committee, Le Manh Ha expressed the wish that in the near future, bilateral economic cooperation between Vietnam and Bulgaria will be further strengthened. He hopes this forum will be a good opportunity for Vietnamese and Bulgarian enterprises to seize investment opportunities, promote economic cooperation, and deepen and develop the good relations between the two countries.
Setting priorities to promote economic cooperation, President Roesen Plevnelive and Vice Chairwoman of Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, Nguyen Thi Hong, attended the ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of the Bulgarian Economic and Trade Office at Vincom Centre B building (45 Ly Tu Trong Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City). The Bulgarian Economic and Trade Office will create conditions for Bulgarian businesses to directly access partners in Vietnam and expand connections with Southeast Asia. It is also a step to implement important documents which have been signed between the two countries, which will promote the relations towards strategic partnership and new models of economic cooperation.
In recent years, Bulgaria and Vietnam have always considered each other great friends and trusted partners and have been striving to constantly enhance comprehensive cooperation in economy, culture, science and technology, particularly in the fields of trade and investment. In 2012, bilateral trade turnover reached more than US$60 million, in which Vietnam exported to Bulgaria US$37 million, up 40 percent compared to the same period last year. The two countries have agreed to increase trade relations and exchange of goods with each other, raising the two-way trade turnover to US$500 million in the near future.
In the investment sector, Bulgaria currently has seven valid direct investment projects in Vietnam with approximate capital of US$30 million, in which the coffee processing project inLam Dong and textile project in Hue are the highlights.
Thanh Thao
Đăng ký: VietNam News