NEWS

Bulgaria is in the center of a new, developing market comprised of 11 countries with a population of 75 million and at the same time the country has the lowest tax load for the business in Europe. This is what President Rosen Plevneliev said, who opened a joint Korean-Bulgarian business forum in Seoul, attended by almost 100 representatives of the Korean and Bulgarian business.  

 

 Bulgaria is modernizing – we are expanding the Sofia subway and the road infrastructure and one of the biggest airports in the world is located near the Bulgarian border and will be connected to a high-speed railway. The markets in the region may be reached in a couple of hours, the Bulgarian President told the Korean business. Rosen Plevneliev also highlighted the preferential treatment of business start-ups and called on the Korean companies to invest in Bulgaria and to expand their positions on the European market, taking advantage of our country’s advantages. “We offer industrial zones, attractive opportunities for summer and winter tourism, good quality of life and hospitality,” the President added. 

 

In 2014 the bilateral trade between Bulgaria and South Korea was worth almost 205 million US dollars, which is far below the potential of the two countries and they should find ways to increase their trade. Before the Korean business circles, the Head of State highlighted the high quality of Bulgarian agriculture production.  “We have the cleanest ecological environment for the production of agricultural products and the assistance provided by the EU funds ensures the Bulgarian agriculture a great potential,” Rosen Plevneliev said.  

 

In the ICT sector, the President emphasized our country’s traditions in the production of high-tech products, as well as the highly-qualified Bulgarian specialists in the sector. The Head of State presented Bulgaria as an attractive outsourcing destination for the business – one of the ten most popular ones in the world and the only one in Europe. The sector in Bulgaria marks an average annual growth worth 60 percent, President Rosen Plevneliev further said. 

 

At a special ceremony attended by the Head of State, a memorandum on cooperation was signed between the Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency, the Association of Bulgarian exporters and the Korean Association of Importers and between the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria and the Federation of Korean Industries. 

 

On the last day of his official visit in the Republic of Korea, the President visited the demilitarized zone between South and North Korea. In Seoul the Head of State will hold talks with the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea Chung Ui-Hwa and will be awarded the honorary title Doctor Honoris Causa of the Sungkyunkwan University.