site.btaBulgarian, Turkish Businesses Meet for First Bilateral Business Forum in Bansko

Bulgarian and Turkish businesses met Saturday to discuss opportunities for sustainable trade and cooperation, European funds, female entrepreneurship and innovative approaches to the green transition at the first Turkish-Bulgarian Business Forum, held in Bansko, southwestern Bulgaria. 

Bulgaria and Turkey have the potential for becoming the production base of the European Union during the new transition period, the Turkish Ambassador to Bulgaria Aylin Sekizkok said at the opening of the forum titled "Opportunities for Sustainable Trade and Economic Cooperation in Green Economy Transition". 

Sekizkok mentioned the border checkpoints between Bulgaria and Turkey describing them as the heart of the Bulgarian-Turkish trade and economic relations. She said that 31% of her country's export is done on land and more than 40% of it to EU member states. Sekizkok recalled the issues with traffic and long waiting times at the Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint, which she said were overcome in joint effort with the Bulgarian and government. She pointed out that for this step to be sustainable institutional and structural changes are necessary. 

Commercial exchange between Bulgaria and Turkey in 2021 amounts to EUR 5.2 billion, which is a 30% increase compared to 2020, said the Chairman of the Board of the Bulgarian-Turkish Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BTCCI), Burhan Nemutlu, at the opening of the forum. He noted that Bulgarian export amounts to EUR 2.1 billion, which is about 18% growth compared to 2020. 

Investments by Turkish companies in Bulgaria are around EUR 2.5 billion in various sectors, Nemutlu added. He noted that the biggest Turkish investments are in glass and porcelain, in metallurgy, in the food, textile and chemical industries, and in the hotel and logistics industries. 

More than 2,200 are the companies with Turkish participation registered in Bulgaria. In Shumen alone, four factories have sprung up in the last five years, providing for more than a thousand people and the prosperity of the region, Nemutlu said. He expressed hope that after the first forum in Bansko between business representatives from the two countries, more will follow, and it will become an annual event. The idea of BTCCI is the forum to follow the example of the World Economic Forum in Davos and subsequent forums in Bansko to include international chambers in the country. According to Nemutlu, this will contribute both to the development of Bansko, and of the entire region.

The Turkish-Bulgarian Business Forum in Bansko is organized by the BTCCI, the Turkish Embassy in Sofia, the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the InvestBulgaria Agency, and the Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency.