Bulgaria and Israel will encourage bilateral co-operation between Bulgarian and Israeli companies on innovative projects in areas considered vital to both countries, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said in a media statement on April 28 2010.

The agreement was hammered out in Tel Aviv by the Bulgarian Economy, Energy and Tourism Minister Traicho Traikov and his Israeli counterpart from the industry, trade and labour ministry, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, the statement read..

Among the sectors considered to have great potential are the technology sector, technical sector and services, modern agriculture and agricultural systems, and the medical sector, including pharmaceutical and biotechnological developments.

Infrastructure projects, information technology, and security systems were also high on the agenda.

Traikov and his 20 strong delegation, consisting of businessmen, industrialists and defence contractors, were on an official visit to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem at the invitation of Ben-Eliezer.

"In-spite of the economic crisis, Bulgaria maintains a policy of strong fiscal stability, improving the business climate and the encouragement of further investment in the country," Traikov said during the forum attended by 20 Bulgarian companies and 50 representatives from Israel's business and industrial elite.

He told Israeli officials that Bulgaria maintains the lowest corporate taxation in the European Union which by itself is a very strong anti-crisis measure.

According to the report, the bilateral inter-governmental agreement between Bulgaria and Israel for businesses' co-operation is expected to be signed "very shortly".

Traikov also met Israeli infrastructure minister Uzi Landau and prime minister's Benjamin Netanyahu's economic adviser Ori Yogev. Reportedly, Landau presented a plan to the Bulgarians for the development and the diversification of energy sources and the reduction of fossil fuel dependency.