Business representatives of the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg were coming to Bulgaria with proposals to co-operate with partners in this country on using European Union (EU) funds, Deputy Foreign Minister Evgenia Koldanova said in Varna on October 30, as quoted by Dnevnik daily.

Koldanova took part in a Bulgarian-German business forum in the seaside resort of Riviera, near Varna. The German delegation was led by Willi Stächele, state minister of Baden-Württemberg and head of the Bundesrat (German parliament’s upper chamber) committee on EU affairs. German businesses which took part in the forum were from the car industry, machine building, construction, transport and trade sectors.

Since last year, Bulgaria had been working on joint projects with Baden-Württemberg, mostly in areas of the economy and environmental protection, Koldanova said. The Germans had an outstanding experience in managing water supply and waste that were hot topics for Bulgaria too. Baden-Württemberg, which had a population of 11 million, was the second ranking German state in terms of gross domestic product growth and income percapita.

The business forum, organised by the Ministry of Economy and Energy, was hosted by Varna Regional Governor Petar Kandilarov. Around 50 Bulgarian businesses were taking part in it. The purpose of the event was to encourage inter-company co-operation and establishing contacts with new trading partners, Dnevnik said.