Vietnam, Bulgaria promote cooperation

The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency (BSMEPA) held here on Tuesday a business forum to boost bilateral ties and trade investment. Bulgaria\'s economic competitiveness is high due to the country\' s location in southeastern Europe which can be a bridge linking the market to southern and northern Europe. The government had encouraged investment, especially foreign direct investment (FDI), by applying only one tax policy system to both domestic and foreign investors, addressed Boriana Mintcheva, head of BSMEPA International Cooperation and Project Division. Currently Bulgaria exports to Vietnam mainly machinery, medical and pharmaceutical technologies, while it imports coffee, pepper, and seafood. With more than 315,800 small and medium-size businesses in Bulgaria, BSMEPA believed the two countries\' businessmen would further cooperate in the coming time, said Mintcheva. According to Nguyen Hoa Cuong, deputy head of the Business Promotion Division under the Ministry of Planning and Investment ( MPI), Vietnam has provided favorable conditions to both domestic and foreign enterprises, with appropriate policies and procedures. Currently Vietnam has plans to lure more FDI in infrastructure and human resource development, and in sectors that have high competitiveness. As of August 2011, Bulgaria has only eight projects investing in Vietnam with registered capital of nearly 30 million U.S. dollars, a relatively small scale compared to both sides\' potentials. So the forum would be useful to speed up bilateral trade investment from both sides, said Cuong.