High number of Romanian companies looking for customers in Bulgaria

Business relations between Bulgaria and Romania develop despite the pandemic, the great interest of Bulgarian companies for Romania has remained stable, while a high number of companies in Romania have been looking for customers in Bulgaria, said the deputy director of the Bulgarian-Romanian Chamber of Commerce, Eleonora Ivanova, in an interview for BTA.   The Bulgarian side is looking for partners in traditional sectors such as foodstuff or cosmetics and there is high interest in machine building, said Eleonora Ivanova. BRCCI receives a high number of requests from both sides about various raw materials, a normal thing, considering the crisis, which led to deficiencies in supply and price increases, Ivanova added. Software companies in both countries are looking for customers by offering specialized products in various sectors, such as agribusiness and the industrial sector, among other things, the BRCCI director explained. Romania is one of Bulgaria's biggest commercial partners. According to official statistic data, Bulgaria's commercial balance with Romania was positive over January-October 2021, when it climbed to 1.017 billion leva. In the same period of 2020, Bulgaria's commercial balance was positive – 516.7 million leva. Preliminary estimates show that a record level of commercial exchanges is expected, exceeding the 2019 level, when commercial exchanges reached 9.784 billion leva. Bulgarian exports to Romania grew by 35.2%, while imports grew by 26.2%. Romania remains the second largest commercial partner of Bulgaria after Germany, Ivanova explained.   The executive director of the Bulgarian-Romanian Chamber of Trade and Industry pointed out that one of the BRCCI priorities was transport connectivity between the two countries. “When the Chamber was set up, connectivity between the two countries was not on the agenda,” Ivanova said.   That problem was not solved in time and became ever more serious. Ivanova reminded there are two bridges between Bulgaria and Romania even if commercial exchanges grew 17 times and tourist exchanges have grown significantly. That led to blocking at border crossing points, a problem which was aggravated by sanitary measures introduced in the Covid 19 context.   According to Ivanova, the Danube has a huge unused potential. “We are actively working together with partner organizations in countries along the Danube and we strive to draw attention to the river and the opportunities it is generously offering,” Ivanova declared.   The Bulgarian-Romanian Chamber of Trade and Industry is a private association of companies, set up in 2003 with groups 90 companies interested in developing activity in Bulgaria and/or Romania . The Chamber is based in Ruse (Bulgaria), 60 km south of Bucharest. A training center offering Romanian language courses was set up within CCIBR.