site.btaUPDATED Bulgaria Needs Much Stronger Economic, Trade Ties with Asian Countries, Including China, VP Iotova Says

Bulgaria needs much stronger economic and trade ties with all parts of the world, especially with Asian countries its recently neglected relations with Asian countries, including China, said Vice President Iliana Iotova before the official opening of the Silk Road Balkan-Chinese Economic Forum at the International Fair in Plovdiv on Thursday. "I attach great importance to such a forum. I hope it will be the first, but not the last," Iotova said. 

The forum is part of the programme of the 79th International Technical Fair, which opened on Wednesday.

The Vice President recalled that in 2019, during an official state visit to China, President Rumen Radev and his counterpart Xi Jinping signed a strategic partnership agreement. "Unfortunately, this partnership seems to have remained only on paper. There is not a single significant project, no movement in this direction. That is why I hope that with the help of the non-governmental sector, trade, industrial and economic chambers, and local authorities, something will move in this direction. My team and I are very curious to hear the proposals today," Iotova told reporters.

At the opening of the forum, she said that as a European Union Member State, Bulgaria can be a leader in the Balkans – a bridge between East and West. "Bulgaria is the shortest route to Europe, offering all the advantages for manufacturing, and can also be a good logistics centre," the Vice President underlined.

She pointed out that Bulgaria has extremely strong, deep-rooted and long-standing traditions in the field of high technology, very good education offered by the country's universities in this field, and very well-trained young people.