Bulgaria's metallurgy output is successfully marketed abroad and accounts for a 16% share of exported domestic goods, according to Deputy Economy Minister Anna Yaneva.

Speaking on the 50th anniversary of the first Metallurgy Day, Yaneva explained that the production of base metals in Bulgaria boasted constantly growing turnovers and investments despite the economic crisis.

Yaneva, as cited by the BGNES news agency, noted that the profit per employee in the sector had registered a nearly three-fold increase over the recent years.

She said that, compared to the other sectors of the processing industry, metallurgy excelled with the highest labor productivity, which had registered a nearly 2-fold increase, while the added value percentage had also recorded a 2-fold increase.

"Bulgarian metallurgy boasts a heritage of long years of tradition and experience. Its importance today is defining for the creation and stabilization of industrial production in the country through the provision of the resource base for the development of machine building, electronics, energy and construction, as well as a number of other sectors of our economy. This is why it is important to guarantee well-trained employees in the sector. This is also one of the main challenges which the industry faces, that of hiring young qualified people," Yaneva added.

She announced that the Ministry of Economy and Energy would organize working meetings between the Bulgarian Association of the Metallurgic Industry, business representatives, and the Ministry of Education and Science, to discuss proposals on how to secure the availability of well-trained employees in Bulgarian metallurgy.

Anna Yaneva called on industry representatives to increase investment activity in the sphere of technological upgrade of enterprises, the application of low-carbon technologies and environmentally-friendly innovations, stressing that this would contribute to an increased energy and resource efficiency of production in Bulgaria.