The Committee of Italian Firms in Bulgaria (CCIIB) has signed a co-operation contract with Confindustria, the largest Italian business chamber, that brings together more than 126 000 different companies in Italy. CCIIB encompasses more than 200 Italian companies and represents more than 20 000 jobs in Bulgaria.
 
The agreement was signed on April 9 2009 by Confindustria president Ema Marcegaglia and CCIIB president Massimo Bartocci at Confindustia’s headquarters in Rome. The contract envisages close mutual co-operation between the two business associations.
 
Italy is one of Bulgaria’s most prominent trade partners. According to data released by the Italian institute of foreign trade, in 2008 trade between the two countries exceeded three billion euro, 0.4 per cent higher than in 2007.
 
Italian exports to Bulgaria amount to two billion euro, rising by 5.5 per cent, whereas Bulgarian exports to Italy totalled 1.3 billion, a drop of 6.6 per cent in comparison to a year earlier. Thus Italy has established itself as the third largest trade partner after Germany and Russia.
 
At the signing of the contract, the CCIIB delegation was met by Bulgaria’s ambassador in Rome, Atanas Mladenov.
 
CCIIB in Bulgaria was established in 2001, with more than 200 companies within the enterprise, amongst them Enel, Unicredit Bulbank, Italcementi Group and others. Apart from supporting and promoting the business activities of member companies, the committee is entrusted with undertaking several additional major projects such as organising courses on "quality control and formulation" for all Italian companies active in Bulgaria, as well as establishing and co-ordinating enhanced relations with neighbouring countries like Albania, Macedonia, Serbia, and Kosovo under the Balkan Project context.