site.btaBulgaria and Argentina Discuss Opportunities for Expanding Economic Cooperation

During a Bulgarian-Argentine Business Forum, taking place on Wednesday at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), Vasil Todorov, Vice President of the Management Board of the BCCI, said that Argentina and Bulgaria have strong potential for expanding economic cooperation, particularly in strategic sectors such as energy, high-tech manufacturing, infrastructure, agriculture, the chemical industry, innovation, and tourism.

Todorov expressed confidence that the new agreement between the EU and Mercosur, the South American trade bloc made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay with a shared commitment to multilateralism and rules-based international trade, would also serve as a solid foundation for increasing annual trade. He also expressed hope for an improvement in trade between the two countries and, in particular, in Bulgaria's deficit in bilateral trade.

Todorov said that there is a large Bulgarian diaspora in Argentina and gave examples of some successful companies, members of the industry association of manufacturers and traders of lifting equipment and cranes, that have 20 or more years of experience in exportation from Bulgaria to Argentina.

He expressed hope that the members of the Argentine business delegation would discover interesting opportunities in Bulgaria to establish new business relationships with companies in the country.

The BCCI Vice President said that the organization has more than 56,000 corporate members, maintains ties with industry and sectoral organizations, and has a broad regional presence. "If you direct your business interests to other parts of our country, we can provide support in those regions as well," Todorov said.

Elio Del Re, President of the Association of Metallurgical Industries of Argentina (ADIMRA) and head of the business delegation, expressed hope that this would mark the beginning of cooperation between Bulgaria and Argentina and added that two trade missions are currently visiting our country - one in Sofia focused on energy, and the other in Stara Zagora at the BATA AGRO exhibition, featuring 15 companies from the agricultural machinery and technology sectors, as well as representatives of the scientific and technological community.

The president of ADIMRA noted that the organization is 122 years old and comprises 60 sectoral chambers, representing more than 20,000 metallurgical companies with over 300,000 directly employed workers. He added that the metallurgical sector in Argentina accounts for 18% of industrial GDP.

The President of the Argentine-Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce, Lucrecia Vanni, highlighted the opportunities for developing bilateral cooperation. "We can integrate different value chains into various sectors, such as agriculture, machinery and equipment, the IT sector, and technology," she said, adding that this is not just about the transfer of goods, but also of practices between the two countries.