Italian companies may be attracted in privatization projects, including for tourist sites, as well as concessions agreements and modernization schemes for airports, and construction and reconstruction of road and railway infrastructure in Bulgaria, according to Minister Bozhidar Lukarski.

Speaking Tuesday at the opening of an economic forum titled “Bulgaria and Italy: Together for Achieving Growth”, Lukarski pointed out that the trade and economic cooperation between Bulgaria and Italy was developing very dynamically.

He suggested that this paved the way for the implementation of projects of mutual interest in a number of spheres, including car manufacturing and electric car manufacturing, electronics and electrical engineering, IT, the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, the food industry, tourism, logistics and energy, according to the press office of Bulgaria’s Economy Ministry, as cited by dnevnik.bg.

Lukarski argued that Bulgaria was gaining popularity as an attractive outsourcing destination, adding that this created good preconditions for encouraging the investment processes.

Bulgaria’s Economy Minister informed that Italy ranked 10th by direct investments in Bulgaria for the period 1996 – 2014, the amount reaching EUR 1.49 B.

He said that there were over 1000 companies with Italian capital which had been registered in Bulgaria, adding that these firms had created some 25 000 jobs.

Lukarski presented key advantages of Bulgaria such as the implementation of an active investment policy in line with the Investment Promotion Act, the maintenance of a favorable tax policy, the lowest operational expenditure in the EU, and the availability of highly qualified staff.

Senator Benedetto Della Vedova, Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, confirmed that Bulgaria was becoming an increasingly important destination for Italian exports and investments.

He claimed that the macroeconomic foundations of Bulgaria were solid and the GDP was growing and the country’s fiscal legislation was one of the most attractive in Europe.