The Ambassadors of Germany, Finland and Cyprus met with representatives of Bulgarian and international companies, members and partners of the Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum (BBLF) to discuss the prospects of business in Bulgaria on the European market. H.E. Stavros Amvrosiu, Ambassador of Cyprus, H.E. Tarja Laytiaynen, Ambassador of Finland, and H.E. Matthias Hopfner, Ambassador of Germany answered questions of representatives of companies, among which were Hewlett-Packard, Overgas, Bulgaria Deloitte, Ernst & Young, AstraZeneca and others at the meeting, organized by BBLF.
H.E. Matthias Hopfner said that Germany is the largest trade partner of Bulgaria of the EU member states. More than 1200 German companies actively conduct business on the Bulgarian market. According to him, foreign investors will be reluctant to invest in Bulgaria unless they feel confident in the justice system and enforcement of the laws. He noted that more than 12,000 Bulgarian students currently pursue their higher education at German universities thus making them the second largest foreign students group after that of the students from China.
H.E. Tarja Laitianen, Ambassador of Finland, announced that a Bulgarian-Nordic Chamber of Commerce was formed in September of this year and is now operating with the goals already operates in Bulgaria and the, established to encourage and promote trade and economic relations between Bulgaria and Denmark, Iceland, Norway Finland and Sweden. She said her best impression of the Bulgarian agro-products possibility for Bulgaria to develop business in the agro-cultural sector.
H.E. Stavros Amvrosiou from Embassy of Cyprus, shared his country's experience in tackling pollution, a problem that Bulgaria is also facing and. As an example he presented the practice of the authorities in Cyprus to offer incentive packages to consumers who give up their old cars and choose new, less polluting vehicles. The Ambassador expressed his good impression that the young people in Bulgaria speak several foreign languages.
Mr. Bill Drysdale, the first Chair of the BBLF, congratulated the three new ambassadors with their assignments to Bulgaria and noted that businesses in the country will continue to strive to work in line with European values and to follow the positive examples of business given by Member States of the European Union.
