The President of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), Tsvetan Simeonov, and the Chamber’s international department team participated in a video conversation with the managing board of the Cuban Chamber of Commerce. The Bulgarian Ambassador to Cuba, H.E. Dr. Todor Kanchevski, the Cuban Ambassador to Sofia, H.E. Marieta Garcia Jordan, and Antonio Corona, President of the Cuban Chamber of Commerce, participated at the meeting.
Mincho Hristov, Trade Counselor at the Bulgarian Embassy in Havana, officially opened the meeting and welcomed all the participants. Ambassador Garcia Jordan thanked the attendees and emphasized that this was yet another virtual meeting for the two organizations, reaffirming the embassies’ support for strengthening the bilateral trade and economic relations between Cuba and Bulgaria.
Ambassador Todor Kanchevski acknowledged the initiative of both chambers’ presidents, for conducting the talks, and noted that since the beginning of his mandate, there has been increasing interest from Bulgarian companies to invest in various sectors of the Cuban economy.
The President of BCCI noted that, with the support of the Commercial and Economic Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in Havana, Cuba, another video discussion is being held between the managing board and experts from both chambers. Given the current global trade tensions, Cuba has long experience in dealing with such challenges. Mr. Simeonov stated that BCCI fully supports global free trade without the imposition of trade restrictions and barriers. Thanks to the active work of the Cuban Ambassador in Sofia, BCCI maintains regular contact with its Cuban counterparts. Currently, a non-governmental organization is preparing a visit of a Bulgarian business delegation to Cuba, with the support of BCCI. An invitation has also been addressed to the Cuban partners to visit Bulgaria in the near future.
The President of the Cuban Chamber of Commerce thanked both embassies for organizing the discussion and provided information about a government-supported National Recovery Program for sectors such as food production, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and others. Bulgarian companies with expertise in these fields are welcome to participate. As a WTO member, Cuba also supports the free trade without additional restrictions.
Antonio Corona noted that this year marks the 65th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.