Bulgaria has strategic trade partnerships with some countries. The features of the partnerships are discussed in this article.
China – Bulgaria
The People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Bulgaria’s cordial and cooperative relations progressed smoothly in 2013, with increased exchanges across the board.
Economic cooperation and commerce have made significant progress. Plovdiv, Bulgaria hosted the Bulgaria-China Tourism and Investment Forum in May. The forum was attended by Bulgarian President Roasen Pleveneliev and representatives from approximately 150 Chinese companies. The China-Bulgaria business forum was held in Sofia in June, bringing together over 100 companies from both nations. The China-Bulgaria Trade and Investment Forum hosted a promotional event in Sofia in November. A trade and investment promotion mission from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce attended the event. Chinese companies have been steadily increasing their investment in Bulgaria. Litex Motors of Bulgaria and Great Wall Motors of China have started production at their joint factory. Tianjin Farms Agribusiness Group’s investment project has been continuously progressing. China National Building Materials Group’s Devania cement project is progressing well.
Israel – Bulgaria
The Israeli-Bulgarian trade agreement went into effect in 2001. Because the deal is identical to the trade agreement with Romania, an instant exemption was granted on industrial imports that met the original rules. For sensitive products, a schedule of stepwise reductions was created.
The origin regulations outlined in the agreement are identical to those outlined in the agreement between Israel and the EU countries.
The consignment must be transported with a EUR-1 certificate of origin or a statement supplied by the exporter to be eligible for the benefits outlined in the agreement.
US – Bulgaria
An Agreement on Trade Relations (1991) governs trade between the United States and Bulgaria, providing Most Favored Nation treatment to goods and products from both nations. The Treaty Concerning the Encouragement and Reciprocal Protection of Investments, the Generalized System of Preferences – GSP – and the World Trade Organization Agreement are among the other agreements. The Treaty on the Avoidance of Double Taxation is currently being ratified.
Central European Free Trade Agreement(CEFTA)
The Central European Free Trade Agreement(CEFTA) is an international trade agreement that brings together predominantly Southeastern European countries. CEFTA was founded by officials from Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia and has since extended to include Albania, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) (on behalf of Kosovo, under UNSCR 1244).
The first CEFTA agreement was signed in Kraków, Poland, on December 21, 1992, by the Visegrád Group countries, namely Poland, Hungary, Czechia, and Slovakia (at the time, parts of Czechoslovakia). It went into effect in July of 1994. Participating countries thought that by joining CEFTA, they would be able to organize efforts to integrate into Western European institutions, and therefore join European political, economic, security, and legal systems, thereby cementing democracy and free-market economics.
The agreement was revised by agreements signed in Brno on September 11, 1995, and Bled on July 4, 2003.
Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Macedonia all joined CEFTA in 1996, 1997, 1999, 2003, and 2006.
The new enlarged agreement was signed on December 19, 2006, during the southeast European Prime Ministers Summit in Bucharest, after being initialed on November 9, 2006, in Brussels. The agreement went into force for Albania, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, and Macedonia on July 26, 2007, for Croatia on August 22, Serbia on October 24, and for Bosnia and Herzegovina on November 22, 2007. The agreement’s goal was to create a free trade zone in the region by December 31, 2010.
The notion of a Balkan General Free Trade Agreement to replace existing bilateral free trade accords garnered support at an Association of Balkan Chambers conference in Athens on December 12, according to the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI). The meeting was attended by the heads of the national chambers of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Cyprus, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, and Turkey. Bozhidar Bozhinov, the chairman of the BCCI, provided ideas on regional priorities in cohesion strategy, financing activities at the regional and municipal levels, management and monitoring of EU funding, and preparing enterprises to use the public-private partnership approach.
