The new Ambassador of Bulgaria in Ljubljana Krasimir Bojanov visited BIA and met with the President of the Association Dobri Mitrev. During the meeting the bilateral economic relations between Bulgaria and Slovenia were discussed as well as the opportunities for cooperation.
The President of BIA briefed the Ambassador on the structure and activities of the Association and presented the good cooperation with the Association of Employers in Slovenia (ZDS) - a long-standing partner of BIA in BusinessEurope. The Ambassador, for his part, outlined the priorities of his mission in the direction of intensifying trade and economic relations and conducting real economic diplomacy.
"We have a lot to learn from Slovenia. The targeted development of a high added value economy, the support for craftsmanship, the adequate policy to support young people are some of the reasons for success," Dobri Mitrev emphasised. Krasimir Bojanov also confirmed Slovenia's strengths in the field of education - university education is mainly directed towards the economy of the future, and pointed out that the University of Ljubljana is in the top 500 of the best universities worldwide, while the other two Slovenian state universities (in Maribor and Koper) are in the top 600.
Participants in the meeting agreed that despite the traditionally good cooperation with the Office of Trade and Economic Affairs in Ljubljana, the OTEA system should be reformed in the direction of better knowledge of the Bulgarian economy, selection and greater freedom of action for the purpose of providing concentrated information on positioning in foreign markets as part of the process of promoting demand for companies for international cooperation.
In 2022, trade with Slovenia amounts to €929 million - almost double compared to 2021 (€506 million) and more than double compared to 2018 (€444.7 million). Bulgaria exports 2.5 times more goods to Slovenia compared to 2021 and almost three times more compared to 2020, reaching €526.7 million. For 2022, exports of electricity increase 5.5 times (EUR 260.6 million), biodiesel - eight times (EUR 46.9 million), untreated lead - three times (EUR 26 million), iron and steel - four times (EUR 11.4 million), plastics and plastic products - three times (EUR 9.1 million) compared to 2020. Imports of goods from Slovenia in 2022 almost doubled compared to 2020 and reached EUR 403 million. Bulgaria mainly imports medicines (121 million euro), human and animal blood for therapeutic, prophylactic and diagnostic purposes (22.4 million euro), electrical machinery and equipment, cars and other vehicles for transporting <10 people (33 million - double the 2020 figure), transmission shafts (5.3 million), etc.
The new Ambassador will officially take up the post at the end of August 2023. This is Krasimir Bojanov's first term as Ambassador.
