On the 4th December in “Kempinski” Hotel in Munich was held a round table, promoting the investment advantages of Bulgaria. The event was organized within the project “Popularizing the Investing Advantages of Bulgaria”, executed by InvestBulgaria Agency with the cooperation of the global business media “Financial Times” and the financial support of OP “Development of the Competitiveness of Bulgarian Economy” 2007-2013. The event repeated the successful concept of the first investment round table in Paris (29th November, 2012) – discussion between business representatives and the Bulgarian Government.
The Bulgarian Government supported the investment event with the participation of the Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Mr. Delyan Dobrev, the Executive Director of InvestBulgaria Agency Mr. Borislav Stefanov, the Director of “National Transport Policy” to the Ministry of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications Mr. Dimiter Savov, the Chairman of the Financial Supervision Commission Mr. Stoyan Mavrodiev. They presented the advantages of Bulgaria as an investment destination – highlighting the business environment and the competitive opportunities for investments in different economic sector.
The Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism, Mr. Dobrev, launched the event with a presentation on the priority economic sectors in the country, as well as the main incentives for investment in Bulgaria. Mr. Dimiter Savov of the Ministry of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications, presented the most important infrastructural projects in Bulgaria and the development potential of the “Transport and logistics” sector. The Chairman of the Financial Supervision Commission Mr. Mavrodiev contributed with additional information on the advantageous characteristics of the country – tax policy in favor of the business, low budget deficit, stable currency and growth of the gross domestic product.
Participantion in the panel discussion took the Executive Director of InvestBulgaria Agency, Mr. Borislav Stefanov, as well as representatives of companies, successfully developing business in Bulgaria – Mr. Andreas Schaefer, Deputy Managing Director of the German-Bulgarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Mr. Ruediger Hoeben-Stoermer, Chief Executive Officer of “Lufthansa Technik Sofia” Ltd., Mrs. Nelli Tascheva, Managing Partner of “Tascheva & Partner”, Mr. Ludwig Koll, Former Financial Director and Manager of “Ferrero Bulgaria” Ltd.
Mrs. Nelli Tascheva of “Tascheva & Partner” focused on the role of the governmental support and the Investment Promotion Law (2012).
Тhe position of Mr. Ruediger Hoeben-Stoermer, Executive Director of “Lufthansa Technik Sofia” Ltd, a company that started doing business in Bulgaria in 2007, is that currently Bulgaria possesses all the necessary resources and opportunities, required by the company to operate successfully. Mr. Stoermer also mentioned the high qualification of the employees in Bulgaria, who constitute 50% of the qualitity of the product, delivered by the company.
According to Mr. Andreas Schaefer, Deputy Managing Director of the German-Bulgarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, some of the most perspective economic sectors for attracting German investments in Bulgaria are “Information Technologies”, “Outsourcing of Business Processes”, “Automobile Sector”.
In conclusion, the main focuses of the discussion were the low corporate tax, the stability of the Bulgarian currency and the financial sector in the country, the proximity between Bulgaria and Germany in geographic and cultural terms, the high qualification of the employees and the major projects between universities and companies for training of specialists in different areas.