Exponential growth of Greece-Bulgaria bilateral tradebut also strengthening the competitiveness of the businesses of the two countries, with benefits not only for them, but also for the EU as a whole, the Minister of Economy and Industry of the neighbor expects in the coming years, Bogdan Bogdanov, as a result of developments such as the country’s intended entry into the Schengen Zone, its entry into the Eurozone, but also the strengthening of transport connectivity and the development of logistics infrastructure.

“The effort our government is making, in order for Bulgaria to be included in the Schengen Zone, hopefully by the end of 2023, will be a key milestone for further economic development in Northern Greece, but also for improving connectivity and infrastructure development logistics (supply chain) north and south. This will be a point at which the bilateral trade between Greece and Bulgaria is expected to grow exponentially, as when Bulgaria becomes part of Schengen, we will be able to free up traffic at our borders,” he estimates.

In his statements to APE-MPE, Mr. Bogdanov still refers to dthe important strategic projects that Bulgaria presents at the 87th TIFone of which involves a program to launch nanosatellites into space starting in 2025, which could be used in the future to manage natural disasters and potentially provide early warning and prevention of the effects of phenomena such as catastrophic floods of the last week in Greece and Bulgaria.

Two strategic projects “with wings” and the new face of Bulgaria in TIF

In more detail, to the question of what he expects, in practice, from the participation of Bulgaria as an honored country in this year’s TIF, Mr. Bogdanov answers: “it is a real honor for us to be an honored country in the 87th TIF, not only because Greece is one of of our main trading companies, but also because we have reached an important stage of political and economic development and our two countries have very fruitful cooperation in a variety of fields (…) We expect from this event to discuss some strategic areas of cooperation, such as infrastructure, energy and trade, which are among the key issues (in bilateral relations)”.

But, according to Mr. Bogdanov, the main priority of the Bulgarian participation is to present at TIF “a new face of Bulgaria, a new vision, which includes the sectors of high technology, innovation and education and is at the center of our national pavilion ».

As he points out, companies developing “disruptive” technologies are presented at the Bulgarian stand. Among them, “Dronamics”, the first company in the world, to be licensed by the EU authorities to fly autonomous cargo-carrying drones, will start its commercial flights from Greece. This is one of the two strategic projects announced by Bulgaria at TIF.

As for the second, the nanosatellite array launch program, which the minister described as “very important not only at the national level, but also at the regional level”, this aims to develop a strategic data collection infrastructure and technologies for security purposes, monitoring the environment, disaster management and early warning and prevention. “The program starts in 2024 and the first launches are expected to take place by 2025” announced Mr. Bogdanov, pointing out that important companies from sectors such as construction, energy, renewable sources (RES) and electric mobility also participate in TIF .

Interest of Bulgarian entrepreneurs for investments in Greece

At the same time, as the minister points out, “in the first eight months of 2023 we saw Greek investments in Bulgaria increase significantly (…), but we also see many Bulgarian entrepreneurs (businessmen who develop businesses based on a new, exclusive idea) interested in invest in Greece. So, in the near future, we see that the importance of the relationship between us will be further strengthened, and this will be important not only for our two countries, but also for the stability of Southeast Europe as a whole.”

He clarifies that all this has nothing to do only with the expansion of bilateral trade, since, at the same time, Greek businesses will benefit directly from smooth transport and the development of supply chain infrastructure, making them more competitive, as well as Bulgarian, something that will be beneficial not only for the two countries, but also for the EU as a whole.