Around EUR 500 M of Italian investment could be poured into Bulgaria, Deputy Prime Minister Daniela Bobeva said after her meeting with business union representatives.

Deals in fields such as the cement and textile industries, and also in refining technologies, have already been agreed following Bobeva's talks with members of Confindustria, the Italian employers' federation comprising more than 113 000 companies, the public broadcaster Bulgarian National Television reported.

Bobeva described her visit to Italy as a wonderful occasion to offer investment opportunities and seek progress in each area where Italian entrepreneurs have shown interest.

She added that Italy, which has made about 53% of its investments into Bulgaria in small and medium enterprises, has a significant potential for increasing its role in the country.

Italian tourism in Bulgaria also has to be encouraged, the Deputy Prime Minister believes.

At the meeting with business representatives in Rome she cited low currency risk and the lowest taxation rates in the EU as Bulgaria's positive features for any investor. She underscored that measures to reduce the bureaucratic burden and to increase transparency through amendments to public procurement laws have been adopted.

She also called on the Confindustria members to assist financially to the Serbian regions most affected by last days' floods.

Bobeva is in Rome as head of a Bulgarian delegation after Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi unexpectedly canceled hist meeting with his Bulgarian counterpart Plamen Oresharski scheduled for Thursday, citing "institutional" factors as a reason.

This prompted Oresharski to withdraw from the delegation, as he is due to meet Renzi next week, on May 28.