American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria Holds Business Breakfast with Prime Minister Rumen Radev

The American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria (AmCham Bulgaria) held a business breakfast with Prime Minister Rumen Radev and members of the Bulgarian government on Monday.

The event highlighted several key priorities for the Chamber, including the investment climate and business environment, the rule of law and digitalisation, healthcare and energy, innovation and education, among others.

The traditional institutional dialogue format brought together more than 250 participants. Those attending included Alexander Pulev, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Investments and Industry; Ivan Vasilev, Minister of Innovation and Digital Transformation; Nikolay Naydenov, Minister of Justice; Lyubomira Gancheva, Deputy Minister of Energy; and Hristo Polendakov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Nearly the full AmCham Board also took part, led by President Tommy Ver Elst, First Vice President Stanislava Taneva, Second Vice President Borislav Dimitrov, and Chief Executive Officer Ivan Mihaylov.

“Our business breakfasts with the governments of Bulgaria have always been events at which the business community expects to hear about the executive branch’s plans for Bulgaria’s economic development through policies and measures that will drive sustainable growth and social justice. I would like to thank Prime Minister Rumen Radev for accepting our invitation and engaging in a discussion with our members today. This is a clear signal to the business community in Bulgaria of the government’s strategic plans to navigate the Bulgarian economy and society through these challenging years over a full term in office,” Ivan Mihaylov said in his opening remarks.

“The major question before us as a country and a society is what lies ahead for Bulgaria as an independent country, as a member of the EU and NATO, and as a country with enormous potential in terms of industrial maturity, entrepreneurship, ideas and talent, and natural resources that can provide not only opportunities for tourism, but also energy and raw-material independence,” he added.

"Bulgaria has the potential of its people across all five generations who are currently active in the labour market. The country has the resources to become, if not fully energy independent, then at least energy autonomous; to produce high-value-added products and services as part of global supply chains; and to build resilience by relying on innovation, the smart use of the EU funds that are still available, and active cooperation with capital markets to achieve sustainable growth,” said Tommy Ver Elst, President of AmCham Bulgaria.

“The presence of a government with a parliamentary majority - something that has not happened for decades - is a very strong signal to citizens, investors and our partners that the long-awaited and necessary reforms across numerous sectors will be implemented,” he added.

Prime Minister Rumen Radev said during the meeting:

“For us, the United States is a key partner, and last year alone, our bilateral trade increased by more than 40%. Building on our strategic partnership, political stability in Bulgaria, the long-term horizon of our government and our determination to deepen and expand our relations with the United States, we can make a breakthrough in new areas of economic cooperation in cutting-edge technologies, alongside established areas of cooperation such as defence, security and energy. It is time for American investment to come to Bulgaria in the fields of artificial intelligence factories, high-capacity data centres, robotics, mechatronics and semiconductors. We have all the prerequisites to make this happen.”