American companies rank fourth among direct foreign investors in Bulgaria, Olivier Marquette, president of the American Chamber of Commerce (ACC) in Bulgaria, has said during a business breakfast organized by the Chamber with the participation of Prime Minister Academician Nikolai Denkov, government ministers and ACC members. The topic of the meeting is the 120th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the USA and Bulgaria.
The investments are 5.5 billion leva. Those from Canada amount to 1.3 billion leva, Marquette points out. He also noted that American companies created 40,000 jobs, while Canadian investors – about 5,000. According to him, these figures are good, but can be improved further if there is a favorable business environment, eased regimes and wider digitalization.
Marquette noted that there were several strategic initiatives that could help improve conditions in Bulgaria as an investment destination.
“First of all, healthcare. In order for the investor companies here to grow, it is important that they have a well-trained workforce, which the education system is responsible for, but it is also very important that we take care of the health of all these people”, Marquette said.
“The energy transition is another big topic – every company takes care of this to be able to achieve a successful transition to decarbonization”, he pointed out.
Marquette also believes that the chamber’s member companies will be able to actively participate in the process of rebuilding Ukraine, setting an example with technology and funds, and added that this will be a key priority for ACC.
According to Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov, the main goal of the government is clear – to fully integrate the country in the coming years into the European and Euro-Atlantic structures.
“All the actions we take are aimed at these goals. The priorities of Schengen, the Eurozone, the OECD, cooperation with key countries such as the USA and the EU as an organization are aimed at the development of Bulgaria as a normal European country”, said Denkov.
He specified that pragmatic actions would be taken to achieve this goal.
“The changes in the laws, the decisions we are making, aim to quietly make the changes we have been waiting for decades and hope to implement in the next year or two. We have a clear plan on how to make this happen,” Denkov added.
According to him, the Cabinet is much more stable than what is seen in the media.
“There is and will be tension, disputes too, but the great majority in the National Assembly and the great majority of the Bulgarian people support the common goal, and this gives us confidence that we can realize it. We will rely on the cooperation with you and colleagues from the EU, because only together we can achieve these goals,” the prime minister added. (Novinite/Business World Magazine)