Pulev Invited Austrian Businesses to Build Infrastructure in Bulgaria

Minister of Economy Alexander Pulev extended an “open” invitation to Austrian businesses to participate in the modernization of Bulgaria’s infrastructure. The Deputy Prime Minister presented the new legislation on public-private partnerships to the Austrian Ambassador to Bulgaria, H.E. Andrea Ikic-Bohm.

Pulev emphasized that the new framework will open up opportunities for private-sector participation in the development of strategic projects, including in the areas of infrastructure, industrial zones and other key national assets.

Austrian businesses have significant experience, expertise and technologies that could be extremely valuable for the implementation of these projects,” the minister noted.

He explained that the government aims to create a “stable and balanced” framework that protects the state’s interests while also enabling the mobilization of private capital and accelerating infrastructure modernization.

Austria is one of Bulgaria’s most important economic and investment partners. The cumulative volume of Austrian direct investment in the country is nearly €6 billion and bilateral trade amounts to about €2 billion annually.

These are truly impressive figures but our goal is to build on these results through concrete policies. “We want to attract even more high-value-added investments and achieve a comprehensive economic transformation toward high-tech manufacturing, together with our key strategic partners in Europe, including Austria,” the Deputy Prime Minister noted.

He also emphasized the reform aimed at reducing the administrative burden, which the government is developing in direct dialogue with the business community and industry organizations.

We want to hear directly from the business community what the real administrative obstacles to its development are,” said Pulev.

He also extended a special invitation to Austrian companies operating in Bulgaria to actively participate in the process and submit their proposals for improving the business environment.

Translated with DeepL.