site.btaCooperation with Norway: Innovative Companies "Should Be Bulgaria's Ambassadors"

The potential for doing business between Norway and Bulgaria is very great, and there are still many unfilled market niches, said Miriana Alexandrova, Executive Director of the Norwegian-Bulgarian Business Group (NBBG), in an interview with BTA. In her words, Bulgarian goods and services are not well known on the Norwegian market, and the benefits for Norway of entering the Bulgarian market are not sufficiently promoted among businesses there.

“Bulgaria has extremely competitive, innovative companies that offer world-class goods and services, and they should be our "ambassadors" abroad. We are proud that some of these companies are our members and we do our best to represent them to our Norwegian partners so that they can establish long-term relations with them,” Alexandrova said.

She also pointed out that trade between the two countries is modest, with an increasing trend in recent years, which is very optimistic. The leading commodity groups in Bulgarian exports to Norway are seeds, engines, yarn and medicines, and in imports - mineral or chemical fertilizers, fishery products and second-hand items.

"Bulgaria could export to Norway wines, cosmetics, organic products, including food products, start a growth in cultural and spa tourism, it could provide the Norwegian market with innovative, high-quality goods and services, which we do not lack, but are not known to the Norwegians. Norwegian goods and services are of high quality, but they are not always widely available to the Bulgarian consumer due to their high price, nor are they sufficiently well known. A large part of the imports of fishery products in Bulgaria comes from Norway - it is among the leading importers of salmon in Bulgaria, but I hope that along with this the imports of other seafood products, which Norway is so rich in, will increase", the NBBG Executive Director pointed out.

The NBBG was established in 2015 with the active support of the largest Norwegian company in Bulgaria at the time - Telenor, and the Norwegian Embassy. Its Board consists of representatives of Norwegian and Bulgarian companies operating in both markets. In 2020, a mirror organization opened in Norway - the first Bulgarian-Norwegian chamber there. It has about 30 members - representatives of Norwegian businesses in Bulgaria and Bulgarian companies working with Norwegian partners.

"Our main goal is to contribute to the development of Bulgarian-Norwegian relations by creating conditions for successful partnerships and long-term bilateral projects. To this end, we organize exhibitions, seminars, conferences and other initiatives that provide opportunities for the exchange of experience and good practices between representatives of the two countries, for networking, promoting the products and services offered by the companies and identifying market niches," Alexandrova said.

On Tuesday, the NBBG organized a forum on opportunities for green growth in Sofia.