THE NEW AMBASSADOR OF BULGARIA TO MOROCCO VISITS BIA

Bulgaria‘s new ambassador to Morocco and former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Yuri Sterk visited BIA today and spoke with the Association’s President Radosvet Radev and Director of International Economic Relations Center Veselin Iliev.

The main topic of discussion was the existing economic relations between Bulgaria and Morocco, as well as the opportunities for their activation. As a major disadvantage was pointed out the export of raw materials, and as a positive feature, Morocco’s favorable position was highlighted, giving broad access to African markets and opening up many opportunities for cooperation, including through Enterprise Europe Network.

Yuri Sterk said that currently Morocco does not fall into the group of countries of highest interest to Bulgarian economic operators, but there are sectors with great untapped potential. Potential niches in the field of agribusiness where Bulgarian production would be competitive are the vaccines for domestic and farm animals, cereals, unrefined oils, mineral fertilizers and others. Prospects for development also exist in the construction, pharmaceutical and textile sectors. “In the media, cooperation between BTA and Morocco’s national media group provides good channels for mediating the image of Bulgaria and its economic climate,” said Yuri Sterk.

Both sides expressed their willingness to take joint action to relaunch the practice of including Bulgarian companies in public procurement in Morocco. Cooperation will also be sought by the Ministry of Economy, both in the exchange of information and in improving the procedures, as they are very restrictive for Bulgarian entrepreneurs. Some of the problems are the availability of documents in French only, as well as the distribution of documents in some areas (for example, medicine) only in paper form.

Radosvet Radev stressed that the regular meetings with the Bulgarian representatives who are leaving abroad are extremely important as they provide an opportunity for better acquaintance with the expectations and reciprocal interests of Bulgarian and foreign entrepreneurs and show where to seek cooperation in the field of investment and business to benefit the members of BIA.

Yuri Sterk said that the best achievement for an ambassador is the improvement of economic relations and, in this connection, will rely on close cooperation with BIA to promote business contacts and their successful outcomes.