Bulgaria hopes to export more high-tech products to China

Bulgaria is looking to change its structure of trade with China by exporting commodities with high added value rather than raw materials, visiting Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Economy and Energy Krasin Dimitrov told the Global Times on Monday.

Bulgaria is expecting to export more advanced technological products in mechanical engineering and electrical appliances, Dimitrov said.

According to previous statistics, exports of base metal constituted 68.8 percent of all exports from Bulgaria to China in 2013.

Of a total volume of $590 million of base metal exports in 2013, $580 million came from copper and related products.

"We are also looking at promoting our products from traditional strong suits such as agriculture and food, such as meat products and wine," Dimitrov said.

The deputy minister came to Beijing to attend the China-Bulgaria Business Forum, co-hosted by the Trade Development Bureau under China's Ministry of Commerce and the Bulgarian Embassy on Monday in Beijing.

Eleven companies from Bulgaria and more than 50 companies from China attended the forum.

Dimitrov described Bulgaria as one of the most business-friendly countries in Europe.

"Bulgaria currently has the best business environment in Europe. We have fiscal and economical stability. Bulgaria is the only European country that did not change its tax legislation even during the [2008] world economic crisis. We maintained the lowest rates of taxation, with corporate tax set at 10 percent and personal tax at 5 percent. This makes us the most desirable place to do business," he said.

When asked whether the ongoing Ukraine crisis would impact the Bulgarian business environment as the country is heavily dependent on Russian gas, Dimitrov said that Bulgaria is actively seeking various sources of gas in the region.

"I believe that by 2016, this dependence on only one source of energy will be resolved," he said.