site.btaJapanese Company to Invest in High Tech for Bulgarian Yoghurt Production

The Japanese Meiji Dairies Corporation is interested in investing in Bulgarian science and high technology, and more particularly in the science laboratory at the Bulgarian state-owned dairy company LB Bulgaricum. The Bulgarian Ministry of Economy and Industry reported that after a meeting between Minister Korneliya Ninova and Japanese Ambassador to Bulgaria Hiroshi Narahira on Thursday.

Ninova and Hiroshi Narahira visited LB Bulgaricum's manufacturing facilities and laboratories, which keep more than 1,000 different bacterial strains and more than 100 starters for Bulgarian yoghurt. A significant part of the equipment used there was made in Japan, and many of the workers have been trained there.

Next year it will be 50 years since Bulgaria-branded yoghurt was first sold in Japan. This was made possible in 1972 when the Bulgarian government allowed Meiji Dairies to sell such a product. Today, thanks to three licensing agreements between LB Bulgaricum and Meiji Dairies Bulgarian yoghurt is sold in Asia, and a fourth agreement is in the making.

Yoghurt is a symbol of Bulgaria, said the Japanese Ambassador.

Ninova added that the exchange of goods between Japan and Bulgaria has increased and there is an opportunity to further develop the economic relations.

Japan is a prime economic partner of Bulgaria, said the Ministry. Bulgaria can be a supplier of Japanese companies working in the fields of information and communication technologies, mechanical engineering, appliances, car parts, construction, mining, pharmaceuticals, etc. Today, the main imports from Japan include cars, cables, machines and machine parts.