On September 10 and 11, 2020, the Trade Promotion Agency (Trade Promotion), the Europe - America Market Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) cooperated with the Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency (BSMEPA), Ambassador Vietnamese Embassy in Bulgaria, Embassy of Bulgaria in Vietnam organized "Online conference on Vietnam - Bulgaria consumer product trade 2020.

The event of the National Program on Trade Promotion in 2020 aims to support Vietnamese businesses in finding potential partners in Bulgaria, thereby promoting trade in goods with the Bulgarian market in particular and the European Union (EU). ) in general.

The conference took place under the co-chair of Vietnam's Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai and Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Economy Yana Topalova with the participation of more than 70 representatives of agencies and businesses from the two countries in the field of consumer goods including agricultural products (vegetables, fruits, vegetables), food and beverages, cosmetics, furniture, plastic products and personal protective equipment

Making speech at the conference, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai affirmed that the event meets the expectations of the Vietnamese and Bulgarian business communities are constantly looking for information as well as opportunities to cooperate to take advantage of the Association. Vietnam - EU (EVFTA) free trade agreement that Vietnam and the EU took a long time to negotiate and ratify.

Evaluation of trade and investment cooperation between Vietnam and Bulgaria, Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai said that the relationship between the two countries has developed well over the past time, in which economy is one of the main pillars of cooperation. .

According to data from Vietnam Customs, two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Bulgaria maintained at over 100 million USD per year.

Regarding direct investment, as of July 2020, Bulgaria has 9 valid direct investment projects in Vietnam with a total registered investment capital of 31.1 million USD, ranking 66 out of 130 countries and territories with direct investment in Vietnam.

Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai said that the above figures are still low, not commensurate with the potentials and desires of both sides.

Commenting on the potential for trade and investment cooperation between Vietnam and Bulgaria, Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai affirmed that the two countries have many favorable conditions for developing economic relations. In particular, on the basis of good traditional relations between the two countries, Vietnamese and Bulgarian businesses can promote bilateral trade and investment exchanges.

In particular, interprises of the two countries can use up the advantages brought by EVFTA. The two sides give incentives to each other in terms of market opening, thereby helping to further expand the market share for exports, especially products of the two countries' export strengths.

Vietnam currently mainly exports traditional consumer goods such as textiles, footwear, rubber, agricultural products (coffee, rice, cashew, seafood ...) computers, phones ... to Bulgaria and imports wheat, cooking oil, dried fruit, wine ... from this country. While the list of strong consumer products of both countries is still abundant, the market demand for Vietnam and Bulgaria is still very potential. There is plenty of room for cooperation in the coming time.

Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai also pointed out challenges in trade and investment relations between Vietnam and Bulgaria including the effects of the world trade war as well as the negative impacts of Covid 19. To promote bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation, Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai affirmed that the Government and the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Vietnam Trade Office in Bulgaria will do their best to support Vietnamese businesses about market information, act as a bridge with Bulgarian partners, assist in solving difficulties arising in the process of entering markets and business. At the same time, it will also select businesses with the ability, determination and aspiration to connect partners with Bulgarian businesses.

Ms. Yana Topalova, Deputy Minister of Economy of Bulgaria said that it is very important for Bulgaria to trade with Vietnam because Vietnam is significantly increasing its influence in the region as well as in the world. Appreciating this trade conference, Ms. Yana Topalova emphasized that the conference is very meaningful because Bulgaria wants to exploit EVFTA to build sustainable commercial relationships from building a value chain in which Vietnamese and Bulgarian interprises play a key role. Ms. Yana Topalova affirmed that the Ministry of Economy and the Bulgarian government will continue creating incentives for Vietnamese interprises to invest and trade with Bulgaria.

Vietnamese Ambassador in Bulgaria Mr. Doan Tuan Linh said that the Vietnam - Bulgaria bilateral relationship has a long foundation and promotes the strengths of both sides, the two sides both open and integrate together and are members of the WTO, The bilateral relationship between Vietnam and Bulgaria is still attached to the membership of ASEAN and the EU in the coming time with increasingly strong socio-economic integration and the efforts of the two countries, relationship will be deepened and deepened to contribute to the growth and shared prosperity between Vietnam and Bulgaria in the new era.

Also at the conference, Mr. Boyko Takov- Director of BSMEPA and Mr. Daniel Dobrev, Economic Counselor of the Embassy of Bulgaria in Vietnam shared about the opportunities and challenges facing Vietnam and Bulgaria in the context  of EVFTA that is effective and promotes more business experience with Bulgaria.

Making speech at the conclusion of the conference, Mr. Vu Ba Phu, Director of the Trade Promotion Department highly appreciated that the information shared at the conference was really valuable for both sides to set up and orient business plans to maximize benefits from EVFTA, thereby could open up many opportunities for cooperation.

For the Trade Promotion Department, Mr. Vu Ba Phu pledged to be ready to support Vietnamese and Bulgarian businesses with market information to participate in fairs, exhibitions, business and investment connection programs.

In the framework of the conference, a signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding took place between the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency and the Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Support Department. According to the agreement, the two national trade promotion agencies will exchange information related to policies and measures adopted by the two sides to promote and support Vietnamese small and medium enterprises; exchange experiences in organizing and operating service provision activities for small and medium enterprises; organize seminars, fairs, exhibitions and other trade promotion activities to enhance exchanges and cooperation between small and medium enterprises of both countries ...

After the Plenary Session, the enterprises of both sides entered the Online Trading Sessions according to product groups. Through the conference, Vietnamese businesses have favorable conditions to promote, introduce and sell high quality products to potential Bulgarian importers and distributors and learn about the conditions of market penetration and how to take advantage of Bulgarian market opportunities from EVFTA./.