President Luong Cuong and President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumen Radev witness the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation between the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI). Photo: VNA

In order to further strengthen coordination in trade and investment promotion activities and disseminate information to businesses about business opportunities in the two countries' markets, at the Presidential Palace, Ms. Tran Thi Lan Anh, Secretary General of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), representing VCCI signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation with the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) in the presence of Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and President of Vietnam Luong Cuong.

VCCI and the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) signed a Cooperation Agreement in 2005 and have always maintained a relationship of exchanging information between the two organizations.

However, in recent years, mutual interest between businesses of the two countries has increased. In fact, VCCI has also coordinated with the Bulgarian Embassy in Vietnam to support business connections between the two countries in many fields such as: product processing, construction design, agricultural products, cosmetics, honey, milk and dairy products... and has been highly appreciated by the business communities of both sides.

From the success in supporting business connections, in 2023, at the proposal of the Embassy in Vietnam, the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs supported VCCI to implement the project "Promoting cooperation with the EU market and encouraging the implementation of sustainable development models in the Vietnamese business community" with a funding capital of 47,658 EUR (equivalent to about 1.2 billion VND).

The MOU between VCCI and BCCI was re-signed on the occasion of the Bulgarian President's official visit to Vietnam from November 24-27, 2024 at the invitation of President Luong Cuong and before the two countries prepare to celebrate the 75th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations. This is an important milestone demonstrating the desire of the two units to expand the implementation of activities that bring more practical results to support the business communities of the two countries.

VCCI Secretary General Tran Thi Lan Anh represented VCCI to sign a cooperation agreement with representatives of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the presence of Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and Vietnamese President Luong Cuong. Photo: VNA

After 74 years of establishing diplomatic relations, Vietnam and Bulgaria have always fostered and developed positively in all fields; in which, economy is one of the important pillars of cooperation.

In particular, Bulgaria is one of the countries in the European Union (EU) taking the lead in ratifying the Vietnam-EU Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Partnership and Cooperation (PCA) as well as promoting the signing and ratification of the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the Vietnam-EU Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA).

According to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in the first 10 months of this year, the trade turnover of goods between Vietnam and Bulgaria reached about 229.2 million USD, up 30.3% over the same period last year. Of which, exports reached 167.25 million USD, up 37.8%, and imports reached 61.95 million USD, up 13.5%. The trade surplus in the first 10 months of this year reached 105.3 million USD. According to trade experts, in the 2015-2023 period, bilateral trade between the two countries doubled from 102.5 million USD to 211.4 million USD. In particular, Vietnam's exports to Bulgaria increased 3.5 times from nearly 41 million USD in 2015 to 140.5 million USD in 2023.

Cam Anh (Business Forum Magazine)