Bulgaria-Tianjin economic, trade forum held in Sofia

More than 60 representatives from some 40 state-owned enterprises from the Chinese metropolis of Tianjin and 150 Bulgarian companies participated in a bilateral economic and trade forum here on Monday.

Addressing the event, Dragomir Stoynev, Bulgaria's Minister of Economy and Energy, said that his country gave priority to cooperation with China, considering its huge economic potentials and rapid development.

His ministry was ready to support future projects of Chinese companies in Bulgaria, Stoynev said.

The minister said economic difficulties and limited demands in Europe last year motivated Bulgarian businesses to seek new opportunities for export growth in emerging economies in Asia, including the huge Chinese market. In 2012, Bulgaria's exports to China grew by 88 percent, he added.

Nikola Stoyanov, Executive Director of Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency, which organized the forum, said in the meantime that he was confident that the high interest by business community of the two countries and the attention of the two governments would lead to the further development of bilateral business ties.

Chinese Ambassador to Bulgaria Guo Yezhou, for his part, said the commercial forum once again demonstrated the strong desire of both governments and business communities to facilitate bilateral trade and economic cooperation, and created an important platform for further cooperation between the Chinese city of Tianjin and Bulgaria.

Last year, trade between Tianjin and Bulgaria increased by about 20 percent, and by May this year trade between Tianjin and Bulgaria increased by 50 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, according to Li Fuming, head of the Chinese delegation and director of Tianjin State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.