2024-09-19 12:59:34
There are many areas of cooperation and trade between France and Bulgaria today, and the excellent results of the trade balance testify to the great potential, as well as the network of the French-Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FBTIC), which already has over 300 members. This was announced by the Chamber’s press center in connection with yesterday’s commemoration of 145 years of Bulgarian-French diplomatic relations, organized by FBTIC, together with the Embassy of France in Bulgaria and Ambassador Joel Meyer. The role of companies in the development of bilateral relations was highlighted in the anniversary celebration.
“Today, our FBTIC has more than 300 members and more than 10,000 employees, but this is only the beginning, because our growth goals are ambitious and promising,” said FBTIC Chairman Stephane Delaye.
Among the special guests at the reception at the residence of France in Sofia were Loic Hervé, vice-president of the Senate in France, Olivier Kadik, senator representing the French living abroad, and on the Bulgarian side Iliana Yotova, vice-president of Bulgaria, service ministers, deputy ministers, representatives of agencies, business organizations, the Metropolitan Municipality.
“For me, the French Republic will continue to be one of the engines of the European Union”, said Iliana Yotova and added that today France is among the leading trade and economic partners of Bulgaria, thanking FBTIC for its contribution to the development of bilateral relations, they point out from the Chamber.
From the very beginning of the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1879, France played an important role in the construction of the modern Bulgarian state, FBTIK points out. During this period, French entrepreneurs established factories and laid the foundations of new economic sectors. French capital gave a strong impetus to the development of modern infrastructure, in particular the construction of railways and roads and the beautification of a number of Bulgarian cities.
At the end of the 19th century, a French company and French specialists built the first Bulgarian power plant in Pancharevo. 1966 marks the beginning of car production in Bulgaria: assembly of Bulgarrenault (a collaboration between Renault and the state-owned company Bulet (military industry). In 1969, the first
flight between Paris and Sofia by Air France.
Within the framework of cooperation between the Bulgarian government and the French “Societe des Arcs” in 1983, a project for the development of the winter sports resorts Borovets and Pamporovo was launched. Patrick Favre, founder of FBTIK and its current honorary chairman, was the construction manager of the “Rila” hotel in Borovets.
As part of modern history, large French investments in Bulgaria are divided into three large groups in the periods 1990-1999, 2000-2008 and 2013-2024, writes BTA.