Brussels Economic Forum Attracted Over 100 Potential Investors Interested in Bulgaria

Vladimir Danailov, Chief Executive Officer of Sofia Investment Agency, attended the Economic Forum Investment and Business Opportunities in Bulgaria, in which more than 100 managers of Belgian companies took part. The event was held on 15 November in Brussels on the occasion of the forthcoming Bulgarian presidency of the Council of the EU. It took place under the patronage of the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in the Kingdom of Belgium and was organized by the Belgian banking-insurance group KBC Group, UBB and CIBANK.

The forum was opened by President Plevneliev (in office from 2012 to 2017), who outlined the macroeconomic framework. Stamen Yanev, Executive Director of Invest Bulgaria Agency, presented the priority areas of investment in the country in recent years. On the Belgian side, the event was opened by Luc Popelier, CEO of KBC’s International Markets and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of UBB and CIBANK.

Three Belgian companies with successful businesses in Bulgaria presented their viewpoints as active investors. They shared their experience in establishing and developing business here and emphasized that the strong advantages of the Bulgarian business were the favorable geographic location and the good price-quality ratio of the resources used. They pointed out that areas that needed further improvements were infrastructure, administrative procedures and brain drain from Bulgaria to foreign countries.

Within the framework of the forum, the Bulgarian delegation presented specific opportunities and areas for investment in attractive municipalities for foreign investment in the country. Participants from the Belgian business in Bulgaria agreed that in recent years the foreign business environment in Bulgaria has improved significantly.

Belgian Financial KBC Group initiated the Investment and Business Opportunities in Bulgaria Forum to attract foreign investors to Bulgaria as a continuation of its international customer service model. The bank is among the first partners that investors turn to on the local market, according to Frank Jansen, a member of the Management Board and Executive Director of SMEs and Corporate Banking of UBB and CIBANK. Belgian investors believe that an important advantage of Bulgaria as an investment destination is also the qualitative intermediation of the banks in providing opportunities for obtaining EU funds to finance the investments.