74% of Swedish Companies in Bulgaria Plan Expansion of Operations in the Next 3 Years

Data from a survey carried out in the Kingdom of Sweden on the business climate in Bulgaria was presented on a meeting attended by the Deputy Minister of Economy Alexander Manolev, Sweden’s Ambassador Louise Bergholm and Marieta Zaharieva, Executive Director of the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Promotion Agency.

According to the survey, 74% of Swedish companies in Bulgaria plan to expand their operations in the next 3 years.

The data showed that 94% of Swedish companies in Bulgaria intend to maintain or expand their activities, 30% already have production sites in Bulgaria, and 30% of the companies that do not have production here, intend to establish it in the next three years. Major advantages of Bulgaria as an investment destination are the EU membership, low operation costs, taxes and other charges, good infrastructure connectivity and convenient geographic location, according to the investors.

Data provided by the Ministry revealed that Swedish investments in Bulgaria amount to almost EUR 200 million and provide 8,500 jobs mainly in the telecommunications, electronics and electrical sectors, manufacture of machinery and equipment, and trade. There is good potential for the Bulgarian business on the Swedish market as well. In 2017 bilateral trade increased by 20%. Opportunities exists in sectors such as the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, textiles, machinery, equipment and furniture production, computer technology services, etc.