The Albanian visit of President Rosen Plevneliev on January 16 – 17 and the visit of the head of state to China this week made Bulgarian business hope for its return on the old markets. Bulgarian export is also called the golden hen of our economy, this time its eggs will go to Albania and China. The first market is traditional for Bulgaria and “what’s new is the well-forgotten old stuff,” Chairperson of the Association of Bulgarian Exporters Ivo Todorov comments in an interview for Radio Bulgaria. This country is one of the few that Bulgaria has a positive trade balance with. Despite the export to the tune of EUR 50 million and the Albanian import to the tune of some EUR 18 million it is essential for Bulgaria to develop the bilateral relations.

What is the presence of Bulgarian business in Albania?

“Bulgarian business is quite actively developing in the Balkans, including Albania. This is natural in terms of geography and attitude. Bulgaria’s home market is strictly limited and this country’s companies are looking for their expansion on the closest markets first. In Albania this process has been activated over the past 3 – 4 years due to the opening of the country, its democratization and economic liberalization. Light industry is most active, because the heavy one doesn’t exist here anymore. Food, tobacco and pharmaceutical industries are also represented in that region. Albania is a traditional market for Bulgaria, though there was a drop of the turnover during the years of serious macroeconomic transformations. This is a positive signal for the Bulgarian business and its return to traditional things.”

Is there a hit Bulgarian product in Albania, identifying us – something like yoghurt, for instance?

“We don’t have a leader yet and that is why I will discuss branches as a whole, because EUR 50 million in a bilateral turnover mean practically nothing. One of the presidential visit’s goals was the activation of the relations between both countries. Our politicians have recently started to tour around countries, where Bulgaria has real economic interests in terms of export. Unfortunately, we are not competitive enough yet for the EU. Yoghurt is a good example, since we start to abandon the IT trend due to the lack of resources.”

How will Bulgarian business fight for its stepping on the Chinese market?

“It is good that the state supports business, because economy there is centralized and controlled. Thus we will restore our connections with China due to our historically good relations. There is a serious interest towards the construction of infrastructure projects here, which is really good for the crisis-stricken construction business here. Of course, the traditionally strong branches, producing food, milk, wine etc. will get their serious push.”

China is the gate to the Asian market. What will happen after we go through it?

“If we go through that gate, we will step on other markets either. We shouldn’t forget that Vietnam has nearly 100 million consumers, to say nothing on Cambodia… The state is quickly recovering after the long civil war and infrastructure is to be built up now. Bulgaria has a good reputation on these markets.”

English version: Zhivko Stanchev