Bulgaria and Israel will launch concrete projects which will make the economic cooperation between the two countries more dynamic and will encourage the contacts between the business circles in the two countries. This was the position President Rosen Plevneliev and Israeli Foreign Minister Avdigor Lieberman agreed on. The two held talks at 2 Dondukov street today. The forthcoming meetings to be held between Bulgarian statesmen and their Israeli counterparts and the prepared Third joint meeting of the governments of the two countries are also expected to focus on this issue.
At the meeting Rosen Plevneliev invited more Israeli companies to invest in Bulgaria, which offers extremely attractive conditions for business. “Israel has achieved considerable success in the sectors of information and communication technologies, healthcare and biotechnologies. These are priority sectors for the Bulgarian economy as well, which a lot of Bulgarian companies have gained experience in and in which our country has an interest in attracting strategic investors,” the President said. Our country is reviving its good traditions also in food production and the development of this sector is encouraged by EU subsidies and it can offer investors a lot of opportunities, the Head of State further said.
Bulgaria will continue to work for diversifying the sources and the routes for the transit of energy resources and this also opens up prospects for a closer cooperation with Israel, Rosen Plevneliev said. The construction of inter-connectors, connections between Bulgaria’s gas-transit system and the networks of its neighboring countries are under way and this will secure Bulgaria an access to a wider range of natural gas exporters, including those from the Mediterranean Sea region. It was further highlighted at the meeting that Israel has real opportunities to supply natural gas to Southeast Europe and this requires creating conditions for attracting potential investors who will take part in the development of the regional gas-transit infrastructure.
The two countries will strengthen their cooperation in the security sector, Rosen Plevneliev and Avdigor Lieberman reiterated. Bulgaria, Israel, Cyprus, Greece and Romania will soon set up a regional group for reactions in time of crisis, which will strengthen the partnership between the countries in case there are common challenges to security, including the situations of strong migration pressure. Israel reiterated its readiness to further provide assistance to Bulgaria in the investigation of the terror act committed at the Sarafovo airport.
The two shared the opinion that a fair and sustainable solution of the Middle East peace process can be achieved by stimulating the direct bilateral negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Autonomous Authority. The efforts made by US State Secretary John Kerry to this effect were supported.