In Brussels, where the Fourth EU-Africa summit was launched today, President Rosen Plevneliev held a lot of meetings with leaders of countries from the African continent, who are taking part in the summit in the capital of Belgium.
Agriculture, high technologies, energy, construction, water management and healthcare were highlighted as the main sectors that have the potential to strengthen the economic ties between Bulgaria and Algeria, Nigeria, Namibia and Tunisia. At consecutive meetings President Rosen Plevneliev held with Hage Geingob, prime minister of Namibia, Youcef Yousfi, prime minister of Algeria, Moncef Marzouki, president of Tunisia, and Goodluck Jonathan, president of Nigeria, the African leaders called on the Bulgarian business circles to be more active and to take up the opportunities to make investments in their countries.
Bulgarian companies have implemented a lot of projects in Africa in the recent past and have thus contributed to the development of the African countries. The representatives of Namibia, Tunisia and Nigeria insisted that meetings of the bilateral joint commissions for trade and economic cooperation be regularly held. This is the way, in their opinion, to strengthen the trade cooperation and to focus on the implementation of the joint projects.
Bulgaria is an attractive educational center for students from Africa, and part of those who have graduated in Bulgaria currently hold leading positions. Our country is still a good place for the training of specialists, President Rosen Plevneliev said at the meetings and called on for taking up the opportunities which Bulgaria offers in the education sector.
The opportunities for the supply of natural gas from Algeria to the Balkan and central European countries by implementing a project for the transit of energy resources under the South-North direction were debated by the Head of State and the prime minister of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria. In Prime Minister Yousfi’s opinion, this idea can be implemented after 2019 when Algeria plans to double its natural gas production.
At the meeting held with Moncef Marzouki, the president of Tunisia thanked President Rosen Plevneliv for the Bulgarian support for the realization of the democratic transition in the country by establishing a Tunisian school for politics.
At the meetings the Head of State held with the African leaders, the ambition to invigorate the relations on all levels was emphasized by encouraging the bilateral contacts between the ministers, the representatives of the regions and the local authorities.
State and government leaders from the European Union and the African continent and the leaders of European institutions and the African Union will discuss on 2 and 3 April in Brussels the opportunities for investments in human capital through education and training, for creating additional stimuli for investments and for encouraging growth and creating jobs, mostly for the young people, as well as for investing in peace and security, which is a condition for the prosperity of the peoples on the two continents. The Fourth EU-Africa meeting is held under the slogan “Investments in people, prosperity and peace.”