site.btaSaudi Arabia Visit to Be Followed by "Real Investments"

A Bulgarian government delegation's official visit to Saudi Arabia in the outgoing week will be followed by real investments in the Bulgarian economy, Innovation and Growth Minister Alexander Pulev said on Nova TV on Sunday. He noted that potential Middle East investors see in Bulgaria's caretaker government and the President's Administration an oasis of peace and sustainable development, and they know they can rely on continuity even when dealing with an interim authority.

Pulev accompanied Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Hristo Aleksiev on the trip to Saudi Arabia. They had meetings with Transport and Logistic Services Minister Saleh Al-Jasser, Industry and Mineral Resources Minister Bandar bin Ibrahim Alkhorayef, Economy and Planning Minister Faisal bin Fadhil Alibrahim, and Public Investment Fund Governor Yasir Othman Al-Rumayyan. The sides concluded an Air Communications Agreement establishing direct air services between the two countries.

Pulev said in the televised interview that in Riyadh they found common ground with their hosts in the areas of transport, logistics, digital connectivity, high technology, robotics and the manufacture of automobile components. "We went there with ready-to-start projects and presented priorities aligned with Saudi Vision 2030, a document of the Saudi government," Pulev said.

Discussing the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and the laws which Bulgaria should adopt in connection with it, Pulev said the caretaker cabinet has done its part of the job as it has drafted all key bills which will give the country access to EU funding under the plan. He believes it is absolutely feasible to adopt all the laws by the year's end, provided that the MPs are adequately motivated.

Asked how Europe will help Bulgarian companies save energy, Pulev said that by the end of this year the Innovation and Growth Ministry will open a third procedure under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. It will be for photovoltaic batteries and hydroelectric power plants for producing electricity for own purposes and for local storage. The procedure will be for BGN 200 million in funding.

Under a new programme called Competitiveness and Innovation in Enterprises, the caretaker government has raised an additional BGN 3 billion for Bulgarian companies. About a third of the money will go towards energy efficiency, Pulev said.