site.btaTrade between Bulgaria and Albania Up by Over 20%

Trade between Bulgaria and Albania has grown by over 20%. This transpired during a meeting between Economy and Industry Minister Nikola Stoyanov and Albanian Ambassador Donika Hoxha, the Ministry reported. "Albania is one of Bulgaria's promising partners in the Western Balkans in the field of trade and investment," Stoyanov stressed.

In his words, bilateral trade in 2022 neared EUR 190 million, but these are very low figures considering the potential of the two countries.  

The focus of the talks was on areas of cooperation of mutual interest, including infrastructure, electrical engineering, food industry, tourism, pharmaceuticals, textile industry, etc. 

The opportunity to organize a session of the Bulgarian-Albanian Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation jointly with a business forum was also discussed.

Ministry data shows an increase in trade by 30.1% in the first half of 2022 compared to 2021; an increase in exports by 30.6%; an increase in imports by 28.5%; a persistent trade surplus for Bulgaria, increasing by 31.9% to EUR 41.5 million. The above-mentioned data show the growing importance of Albania as a foreign trade partner of Bulgaria, which is largely due to the good political relations between the countries, the ministry said.