Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.14
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Bulgaria would like to develop the bilateral trade and economic relations with Azerbaijan and to make the most of the opportunities for joint investment, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said in an interview with Trend.
“In this regard, we would welcome a stronger interest of the Azerbaijani investment policy towards our country. Bulgaria's membership in the EU creates prerequisites for joint production and supply of goods for the EU and neighboring countries,” he said.
Borissov noted that despite the negative effects of the global financial and economic crisis, Bulgaria succeeds in maintaining macroeconomic and financial stability.
“We have the most favorable taxes in the EU and a highly skilled workforce. The government also applies a number of additional incentives to encourage foreign investment. There is great potential in sectors such as energy - gasification and gas distribution, building, tourism, including real estate, agriculture and food industry, pharmaceutics , etc,” said the prime minister.
Borissov went on to add that Bulgaria attaches great importance to its relations with Azerbaijan and considers the country as a priority partner given the wide prospects for developing cooperation in various fields of mutual interest.
The Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership signed in March 2015 reflects the common will to further strengthen the bilateral ties, he said.
“Taking into account the excellent relations between our countries and the established legal basis for cooperation, we consider that the volume of bilateral trade does not meet the potential of Bulgaria and Azerbaijan and we would like to intensify our trade and economic relations, including through the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation,” the prime minister noted.
Borissov said he is fully convinced that there is great potential for cooperation with Azerbaijan in the field of diversification of energy resources and routes of supply.
Moreover, he pointed out the significance of opening direct flights between Baku and Sofia in January 2018 in terms of further developing bilateral economic relations.
“On January 16, 2018, within my visit to Baku, I was honored to attend, together with my Azerbaijani colleague Prime Minister Artur Rasizade, the official ceremony of opening the first ever scheduled air service linking Baku to Sofia. I am persuaded that this direct line will contribute to the development of the bilateral business and economic ties, and will promote tourism in Bulgaria and Azerbaijan,” said the prime minister.
The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Bulgaria amounted to $37.4 million in 2017, about $37.2 million of which accounted for the import of Bulgarian products, according to Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee.
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