Our political talks opened up a new horizon for actions in the spheres of trade, tourism, energy, agriculture and food and the Republic of Cyprus is a hub for a more intensive regional activity. These were the words with which President Rosen Plevneliev addressed the almost 60 representatives of the businesses from Bulgaria and Cyprus in the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where together with his Cypriot counterpart, he opened a joint Bulgarian-Cyprus business forum.
President Plevneliev highlighted the positive trend of the development of bilateral trade. In 2015, compared to the previous year, the trade between the two countries grew by more than 80 percent. The Bulgarian export increased by 90 percent in a year, and the export from Cyprus to Bulgaria – by 47 percent. Cyprus ranks sixth among the biggest investors in Bulgaria, with investments worth 2,1 billion euros. “I am sure you will appreciate and increase this growth. This is a remarkable achievement and we will welcome any investment made by the Republic of Cyprus,” the Head of State said. The President added that our country has speeded up the modernization of its infrastructure and is conducting ambitious reforms in the energy, education, healthcare and administration sectors.
In Rosen Plevneliev’s words, Bulgaria enjoys the investors’ trust and the direct foreign investments in 2015 grew by more than 40 percent, and a large part of them are made in new productions and technologies. Bulgaria is also among the leading countries in the business process outsourcing sector, and in the ICT sector. The Bulgarian capital ranks third in Europe in terms of the number of start-ups in Europe. “We would like the Cypriot business to discover a Bulgaria, which offers one of the best conditions for doing business in Europe, at the lowest price. Bulgaria also set up the first high-tech park in the region – Sofia Tech Park,” the President added and invited the Cypriot business to take advantage of the opportunities.
President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades defined the talks held with the Bulgarian authorities as beneficial and highlighted the European dimension as an axis for cooperation between Bulgaria and Cyprus. Nicos Anastasiades recalled that the country is among the largest investors in Bulgaria and encouraged the bilateral exchange of information and experience in priority sectors such as trade and economic cooperation, energy and tourism.
Cyprus bottomed out of the financial crisis even stronger and is promptly recovering, President Anastasiades said. The country is restructuring and recapitalizing its banking sector and has launched a number of structural reforms, which restored the access of the country to the international capital markets considerably earlier than the other countries with similar problems, the President of Cyprus highlighted and briefed the representatives of the business on the key reforms conducted in the country, including those in the labor market and tax policy.