Deputy Minister: Bulgaria's accession to Schengen opens new economic perspectives for Azerbaijan - INTERVIEW

The friendship and strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and Bulgaria, which has lasted for many years, is stronger today than ever before. Recently, cooperation in the economic sphere has entered a new phase, which has enabled a broader representation of mutual interests in both political and business fields.

Investment opportunities, modernization of transport infrastructure, and diversification of trade relations are among the main priorities for both countries. Both countries are focusing on joint activities in this area and taking practical steps.

Bulgaria's Deputy Minister of Economy and Industry Nikolay Pavlov in an interview with Report discussed his country's achievements in economic cooperation with Azerbaijan, future goals, and new opportunities, and spoke about the potential created by existing relations between the two countries.

- How do you assess the current state of economic cooperation between Bulgaria and Azerbaijan? What key achievements have been made in recent years?

- I would say that the recent economic relations between the two countries are very intensive. In the recent period, there are a lot of connections between our two countries on the highest political and also economic level between our companies. Recently, we had, on the 1st of July, the Intergovernmental Bulgarian-Azerbaijani Economic Session in Baku, the sixth one, after a long period without, on which we had the opportunity to discuss a lot of topics related to our economic relations. And I can say that in recent years, they are more and more intensive. We have fields in which, like energy, gas, and oil, in which we register a very high number of trades. And, of course, we explore new fields, other fields, on which we can diversify our economic relations.

- In your opinion, which main areas of cooperation have the greatest potential for development?

- We have intensive relations in the energy sector. Since last year, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) has been operating an office in Sofia, Bulgaria. We import significant amounts of gas from Azerbaijan.

We are working on various energy projects between the two countries. However, we aim to expand this cooperation to create more opportunities for business environment and trade. Increasing cooperation in agriculture, food, and pharmaceutical sectors is one of the main objectives. We have also planned to intensify relations in the tourism sector.

How do geopolitical changes in the region affect economic relations between our countries? What new opportunities and challenges do they create?

- Well, the situation is challenging, it is difficult, and that's why we as Bulgaria are looking forward to how to make our energy sector more secure, how to diversify. And logically, we find partners in the face of Azerbaijan in order to do this. So we are with very intense relations with the Azerbaijani side in the energy field. We participate in the green energy cable. Bulgaria has been following and supporting this process over time and recently decided to become part of this important project. So all those European, world, and regional challenges brought us to make more solid our relations in this field. And I can say that so far we have perfect relations for the interest of both sides which make our energy sector and from there on our economy stronger with a diversified energy mix with more green in it. So this is the good news.

- What projects are being implemented to modernize transport corridors between our countries? Is there a possibility of connecting to the Middle Corridor route?

- The Middle Corridor is very important and Bulgaria supports it. We believe that when it's real, it will bring more opportunities for trade and economy because it's very strategically located. We believe that implementing all of it, when it's finished, it will make the transfer of goods faster, and cheaper, and will open new opportunities for businesses and trade.

- What measures are being taken to attract investments from Azerbaijan into the Bulgarian economy and vice versa? What specific investment projects involving Bulgarian and Azerbaijani companies are currently being implemented?

- We are exploring very actively all the opportunities that we have for investments. As has been mentioned during our bilateral intergovernmental session in Baku a few months ago, we discussed, that we put special attention to the investment opportunities between our two countries. We realize the strategic position that Azerbaijan has in their region. The Azerbaijani also share the opinion that Bulgaria is located in a very strategic position in the European continent in the heart of the Balkan region. It's good news that very probably in a few months, Bulgaria will become part of the Schengen area fully, which will bring us also one new competitive advantage. From there on, we discussed investment opportunities, about our economic zones. We are aware of those in Azerbaijan. We also are promoting our industrial zones in Bulgaria, which are ready to attract important investments and industries. And from there, Bulgaria is a gate for the big European market. So, we as a ministry, I'm representative of the Ministry of Economy and Industry and the Bulgarian government are ready to support and we are supporting all the interests, all the initiatives. We are promoting all the opportunities that there are for important investments in both countries.

- How can trade turnover between our countries be increased? What barriers need to be overcome for this? What measures are being taken to increase agricultural exports between our countries? Are there joint projects to create agricultural processing enterprises?

- We have fewer and fewer barriers. As I mentioned, the transportation is important. So from this point of view, the logistics of the products are very important to be faster, to be cheaper, and from there on to create these opportunities to meet our companies, to participate together in various exhibitions, in various business forums, to meet and to support our companies to work together, to know each other. And from there on to diversify our bilateral trade because, as I mentioned, it's very concentrated in gas, and I believe there are plenty of opportunities and different products that we can potentiate and with which we can diversify our bilateral trade. So we have the first and most important thing, excellent relations between both countries, very intensive political and economic contacts, and from there on realizing all the energy projects that we have, all the good plans to intensify our contact between our trade agencies, our industrial ministries, et cetera. This will give good results, especially, as I mentioned, in a situation that makes us search for more and more opportunities. And there I would like also to mention that Bulgarian companies are also interested in participating in the infrastructural projects in Azerbaijan, particularly in the reconstruction program of the liberated territories, so Bulgarian companies can work and cooperate there.

I will highlight also the new direct line between Baku and Sofia, which has been operating last few months, and which gives more opportunities for businesses and for the people in both countries to know each other. This direct line is very important also, of course, for tourism. We have intensive cultural contacts between our two countries and also this will give a boost to tourism. So, I would say that we have excellent relations and mutual interest, more and more contacts, intense contacts between our two countries, and growth of the bilateral trade, but one important thing is also to diversify it and to find other new sectors to put on and to diversify our trade, to make it more diversified.