NEWS

Bulgaria and Mongolia will identify measures to expand military technical co-operation

Trust is the key word in relations between Bulgaria and Mongolia, and Bulgaria is a trusted partner for the Asian country in the European Union. This was highlighted during a meeting between President Rosen Plevneliev and the President of Mongolia Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj in the Laotian capital Vientiane, where the Ninth Summit of ASEM is coming to an end.

The two countries will work to strengthen their military technical co-operation, which has significant untapped potential. President Plevneliev highlighted the traditions and quality of the Bulgarian defence industry. In turn, Mongolia can offer excellent conditions for training soldiers at the country’s training centres. The Mongolian Government is interested in signing a military technical co-operation agreement with Bulgaria, President Elbegdorj said. There are strong potential contacts in areas such as pharmaceutical products, and in particular generic medicines where Bulgaria is a regional leader. Bulgarian companies can work with Mongolia in the food, wine and tobacco, as well as mining industries, where both countries have strong traditions.

Bulgarian universities are very attractive to Mongolian students, it became clear during the meeting. Close to 3000 Mongolian citizens are graduates who were educated in Bulgaria and the country is interested in development of training programmes for Mongolian students in Bulgarian universities.

After his working visit to Laos to take part in the Ninth Summit ASEM president Rosen Plevneliev will also meet with the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand Yingluck Shinawatra and then will participate in the closing ceremony of the forum.

Close to 50 state and government leaders from Europe, Asia and the Pacific attended the Ninth Summit of ASEM in Laoas. The theme of the discussion was “Friends for Peace, Partners for Prosperity” and will end with the adoption of the Vientiane Declaration to strengthen the partnership for peace and prosperity, and a statement by the Chairman of the Ninth Summit of ASEM.

President Plevneliev described the forum in Laos as very successful for Bulgaria and Europe. The meeting represented 60 per cent of the global economy and two-thirds of world trade. “We heard a very strong message, a lot of leaders spoke in very concrete and clear terms,” the President said. The global economic and financial crisis, relations between Europe and Asia, recipes for success and economic growth, fighting poverty and climate change were among the topics discussed during the meeting.

“We have a lot of trust and a strong reputation among the countries of the region and the task of politicians and business is to offer meaningful projects to be implemented,” the President summarized the results of his talks with about 20 leaders during the ASEM summit in Vientiane.