Iran, Bulgaria Sign MoUs to Strengthen Ties

EghtesadOnline: Iran and Bulgaria will cooperate in different economic fields, including marine transportation, port development, trade, tourism, communications, energy, investment and engineering based on a series of memoranda of understanding signed during Iranian officials’ visit to Sofia on April 17 and 18.

News ID: ۷۸۴۶۱۳

22 April 2019

The visit came a day after the Bulgarian Cabinet approved a draft memorandum on economic cooperation with Iran, according to the Sofia Globe.

The memorandum’s objective is to specify the prospective areas of bilateral cooperation and measures to expand economic ties.

“There will be encouragement of contacts between business representatives from the two countries, exchanges of business visits, participation in fairs and exhibitions, which will be held in both countries, and organization of events,” Financial Tribune quoted the Bulgarian government as saying.

The memoranda also prepares the ground for building on the contractual basis of economic relations to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in the commercial and economic sphere.

Visiting the European country at the head of a high-ranking trade delegation from public and private sectors, Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mohammad Eslami attended the meetings of the 19th edition of Iran-Bulgaria Economic Commission and exchanged notes with government officials, including Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, to improve cooperation between the two countries.

Borissov described Iran as a “traditional partner” in the Middle East, adding that Bulgaria attaches great importance to the development of bilateral relations.

The Bulgarian premier noted that the traditional good cooperation in the field of transport needs to be stepped up.

“Bulgaria and Iran cooperate in all modes of transport. The Bulgarian side welcomes the continuation of discussions on the opportunities for developing a transport corridor linking Greece–Bulgaria–Black Sea–Georgia–Azerbaijan–Armenia–Iran, which creates opportunities for efficient and reliable freight traffic between the Middle East and Central and Eastern European countries,” he said.

Borissov said this transport link will contribute to the growing trade potential in the two regions and to the provision of transit traffic from and to the Far East.

A Bulgarian-Iranian business forum was held in Sofia with Hossein Selahvarzi, the deputy head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, in attendance.

Bulgarian and Iranian aviation authorities are negotiating direct flights between the two countries, according to the Bulgarian Ministry of Transport.

Eslami says the creation of an air bridge would help trade relations, tourism and the acceleration of investment opportunities.