AmCham Bulgaria and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Hosted Round Table with PM Boyko Borissov at Washington, D.C.
On November 25th, 2019, Monday, the Prime Minister of Bulgaria Boyko Borissov discussed the business opportunities of Bulgaria with American investors at a dedicated Round Table Discussion at the United States Chamber of Commerce HQ (U.S. time). The event was part of the official agenda of the Bulgarian delegation in the United States. The discussion was attended by the Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev, the Minister of Finance Vladislav Goranov, the Minister of Economy Emil Karanikolov, the Minister of Defense Krassimir Karakachanov.
The round table was co-organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. During the discussion our Chamber was represented by Olivier Marquette, AmCham Bulgaria President, and Petar T. Ivanov, Executive Director.
At the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Bulgarian Prime Minister was welcomed by Mr. Myron Brilliant, Executive Vice President and Head of International Affairs and Ms. Marjorie Chorlins, Senior Vice President for European Affairs. The latter moderated the discussion with 14 C-level representatives of large American corporations from finance, healthcare, defense, ICT, digital, and telecommunication sectors.
“For AmCham Bulgaria it is great privilege to have the opportunity to co-organize such a high-ranked visit of the Bulgarian Government, headed by the Prime Minister Borissov at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Our both organizations – the Government and AmCham – positioned Bulgaria high in the American business agenda in the very center of the American business and economic policies,” said Olivier Marquette, AmCham Bulgaria President. “It is the first time a Bulgarian Prime Minister to be welcomed at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.“
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce represents 3 million members across America and has more than 100-year long history of promoting, supporting and defending all-range of companies in the United States. AmCham Bulgaria is affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
“Thanks to our joint efforts, both internally and externally in Washington and in Brussels, Bulgaria is more visible to the U.S. and other countries’ investors. Last year we presented the one of its kind “U.S. Investments in Bulgaria” study which outlines the scale and impact of the American investments in the country. By tracking the origin of the capital, we now can evaluate more the U.S. investments which now the sixth largest foreign investor in Bulgaria with is more than BGN 4,5 mln invested over the past years,” said Petar T. Ivanov, Executive Director of AmCham.
“This is another significant element of our public dialog with key stakeholder and positioning:
starting with the AmChamEU Transatlantic Week 2019, March 25th;
the AmChams in Europe 2019 U.S. Business Trip, May 16-19th;
the AmCham Bulgaria Business Breakfast wit the Government, October 7th,
the AmCham Bulgaria Business Breakfast with the new U.S. Ambassador, November 22nd.
and now the AmCham BG – U.S. Chamber of Commerce Round Table with Bulgarian PM Borissov, November 25th.
Moreover, this visit is a milestone of our long-lasting dialog with the Bulgarian Government, and an excellent start for next year’s celebration of our 25Th Anniversary,” he pointed out also.
U.S. Investments in Bulgaria
In late 2018 AmCham Bulgaria, together with the Institute for Market Economics presented the first of its kind survey on the significance of the U.S. investments in Bulgaria. It highlights the following results:
The overall volume of the U.S. investments in Bulgaria represent 5,7% of the total FDIs;
The share of the Top-5 sectors with major American representation is 11,17% of the total FDI;
By analyzing the end capital ownership (new methodology) of the US investments, they reach at least BGN 4.5 billion
This new methodology lifts the USA to the 6th place in the FDI ranking of Bulgaria (from 13th place before)
The American investments are in 5 sectors: manufacturing, energy, agriculture, trade and ICT.
They are in the regions of Razgrad, Stara Zagora, Gabrovo, Sofia, Varna, Dobrich.