BULGARIA TO ORGANISE INVESTMENT FORUMS IN NINE COUNTRIES

InvestBulgaria Agency will carry out investment forums in nine countries to attract foreign investors to Bulgaria and was seeking event organisers, according to a contract notice published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

The agency plans to conduct forums in Belgium, Luxembourg, China, Japan, US, Germany, France, UK, Russia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

The events, aimed at promoting Bulgaria as a hub worth investing in, will cost over 750 000 leva, which will be provided under the EU's operational programme for competitiveness. The countries have been shortlisted under a new strategy aimed at attracting foreign investors, which was drafted by consultancy firm A.T. Kearney.

The nine countries targeted by the agency were said to have the greatest potential to offer investment in priority sectors outlined in the strategy, including electronics and electrical engineering, information technology, outsourcing, agriculture and food, manufacturing of transport equipment and machinery, transport and logistics, health care, pharmaceuticals and chemicals.

Prospective event organisers are required to have organised at least three international conferences with a minimum 30 participants over the past three years and must have an annual turnover of at least two million leva.