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Austrian agri-tech companies seek business opportunities, partners in Bulgaria


Photo: BTA

Sofia hosted  a Bulgarian-Austrian Agricultural Forum where eight Austrian companies presented their products, services and interests in Bulgaria. Most of them are already represented on the local market but some are here to look for long-term partners. "We have very good cooperation in the economy, especially in the agricultural sector, but there is still room for more. The sector provides very good opportunities for environment-friendly and sustainable technologies, and farming globally needs exactly that," said Philippe Kupfer, Commercial Counsellor at the Austrian Embassy in Sofia.

The forum was organized by the Austrian Trade Representation. The event takes place in three cities in two days - in Sofia, Plovdiv Stara Zagora.

Svetlana Boyanova, President of the Institute of Agrostrategies and Innovations and advisor to the Minister of Agriculture, briefly presented the opportunities provided by the Strategic Plan for Аgriculture to support innovative enterprises in the agricultural sector.

"In the Strategic Plan there are several directions to go in terms of innovation. One of them is support for Task Forces within the European Innovation Partnership," said Boyanova. She explained that the aim is for the farmer to get to know the innovative idea, try it and then invest in it. 

She reminded that the National Recovery and Resilience Plan is going to be activated very soon, and the conditions for application will come out maybe in April. Funding for projects should be contracted by the end of September.

It is very important to use the instruments offered by the EU Common Agricultural Policy and the opportunity to test before investing, said Hermann Wieser, general manager of the Austrian Agricultural Cluster, which includes 20 companies in the food industry. He invited all interested parties to come to Austria to learn about the technologies available there.

The companies that took part in the forum were the feed additives producer Agrar Produktion und Consulting GmbH, the manufacturer of innovative transport solutions for agriculture Brantner Fahrzeugbau GesmbH, the manufacturer of vehicle inspection and control systems Energotest Austria, the  company for export of breeding animals and genetic material genetic AUSTRIA GmbH, the supplier of mineral products and dietary additives for animal feed Schaumann Agri Austria GmbH, the producer of animal feeding systems SCHAUER Agrotronic GmbH and Cimbria Heid GmbH, which offers machines and complete solutions for grain and seed processing and storage.