A total of 150 companies, members of Confindustria Bulgaria, the association of Italian businesses in the country, have come together for a round table on Bulgarian investment opportunities.

"In recent years many Italian companies have looked to Bulgaria because of the major infrastructural projects the government has set for this country," stated Confindustria Bulgaria's Chairman, Pietro Luigi Ghia, at the forum in Sofia Thursday.

"We have shown in recent years through our skills and successful collaboration with local partners that Italy knows what it means to build a country, and, mostly, knows how to do well economically. We ask the Bulgarian institutions to have confidence and to listen to us," Ghia added addressing the authorities, companies and experts present at the round table entitled "Building the Change. Bulgaria: Infrastructure and Projects for a Growing Country".

About 150 among Italian enterprises as well as Bulgarian partners and respective authorities got to exchange views, ideas, and specific know-how on the actual and future modernizing infrastructural projects that will cross Bulgaria's territory.

The Ambassador of Italy to the Republic of Bulgaria, Stefano Benazzo, opened the event reminding that the relations between Italy and Bulgaria have never been so positive.

"In spite of the global economic crisis trade between Bulgaria and Italy has grown strongly leading to new opportunities for Italian investments," His Excellency said.

Bulgarian  Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Public works, Nikolina Nikolova, took part in the forum speaking on the infrastructure  priorities of Bulgaria, in a panel with prominent business authorities such as  Levon Hampartzoumian, CEO and Chairman of MB of Unicredit Bulbank and Deputy Chairman of CEIBG.

Backing the Unicredit recent report  on the announced investment projects, the CEO has highlighted a general positive trend for the beginning of 2012, adding also that "Unicredit has and will always support its clients, providing financing for infrastructural projects in spite of some trends about demonizing the banking sector."

Among the Italian participants, Antonio Cancian, Member of the European Parliament and  of the Commission on Transport and Tourism , and  Carlo Ferretti, Chairman of  the SME group in Ance,  the National Association of private construction contractors, widely discussed with the Bulgarian authorities the  results reached by the Italian small and medium enterprises, up to the 65% of the Italian business presence in Bulgaria, emphasizing the crucial role played by EU funding programs in the realization of the investment projects.

This broad introduction led then to the three panels of the round table, all the way from road, railways, and airport infrastructure, to the development of the Danube area - for which Nikolova underlined the strategic importance of Pan-European Transport Corridor No. 8 - to finally  focus on the clean waste management.

All the firms that attended the meeting are members of Confindustria Bulgaria. The association can count on 250 associates active in textile, electronics, agriculture, finance, renewable energies, infrastructure, services, and footwear production.