The forum was organised by the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (HGK) during a visit of a Bulgarian trade delegation headed by President Rosen Plevneliev to the Croatian capital,
Opening the forum, HGK President Luka Burilovic illustrated economic relations between the two countries with data indicating that total trade in 2014 had grown by 50% compared with the year before that, but with an amount of only 136 million euro. He added that Croatian companies had invested a total of 11.3 million euro in Bulgaria whereas Bulgarian investments in Croatia have not been recorded.
That points to the potential to develop cooperation, President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic said reflecting on several levels where bilateral economic cooperation could be developed.
"The first is planned infrastructure projects - motorways, railways, ports. The second refers to tourism, the food industry, small shipyards and ICT technology and the third deals with energy and transport connections, such as gas supply connections, the Danube navigation route, etc. That connection is particularly important for the future of central and southeast European countries," Grabar-Kitarovic said.
She underscored that "in the context of strengthening energy cooperation, Croatia and Bulgaria are faced with the important opportunity to create a new gas market."
"These are projects that will network a regional energy gas infrastructure where Bulgaria has a big role but also the construction of one of Europe's priority projects - the LNG terminal on the island of Krk, something our countries are successfully cooperating on. I appreciate that Bulgaria has supported the construction of that terminal, just like Croatia supports the construction of a hub between Romania, Serbia, Montenegro and Turkey which will contribute to greater security of gas supplies for Europe and in particular, central and southeast (Europe), she said, adding that this is not something that is just of bilateral interest but much wider, in Europe's interest.
President Plevneliev pointed out the insufficient economic cooperation and future opportunities to improve this.
It is difficult to explain that a million Bulgarian tourists visit Greece, 1.3 million visit Turkey and yet only 15,000 Bulgarians come to Croatia. It is difficult to explain that trade between Bulgaria and Serbia was almost a billion euro yet with Croatia it isn't even 140 million euro. That just goes to show the enormous potential and, besides great friendship, it is necessary to be pragmatic and seek concrete opportunities for Bulgarian and Croatian entrepreneurs, Plevneliev said.
He expressed hope that Croatian companies will discover Bulgaria, a country with the lowest single tax rate in Europe of just 10% and over the past 10 years more than 40 billion euro has been invested in Bulgaria, which has the seventh fastest Internet speed in the world and is among the top ten countries for outsourcing. Over the past ten years 35,000 new jobs were opened in the ICT sector and 20,000 in the automobile industry, the Bulgarian head of state said.
Plevneliev confirmed that his country planned to construct gas interconnections with neighbouring countries in an effort to establish a European energy union and that "each country has the right to alternative supply sources."
Each country wants to be competitive, however factories and investors come only when they have a choice of energy and when the price of energy is not set by a monopoly, but by a free market and competition, Plevneliev said adding that a step in that direction is a regional energy exchange which he supports.