Agriculture and Forestry Minister Nihat Kabil said that he will guarantee institutional support to Czech companies willing to invest in the agriculture and processing industry.

Kabil took part in a Bulgarian-Czech business forum during the visit of Czech agriculture minister Petr Gandalovic, Bulgarian National Radio reported.

Gandalovic said that the trade exchange between Bulgaria and the Czech Republic in the sphere of agriculture is less than five per cent from the total trade exchange between the two countries.

Kabil said that Bulgaria is preferred country for investment in agriculture and food industry mainly because of its stable legislation aimed at attracting foreign investors.

Slightly more than half of the country's territory holds agriculture plots, among the most fertile in Eastern Europe, Kabil said.

Kabil told forum participants that goods exchange between Bulgaria and the Czech Republic in 2006 was $419.7 million, an increase of 28 per cent compared to figures for 2005.

Import from the Czech Republic amounts to $338.9 million as agriculture goods form five per cent of the total import. Export to the Czech Republic reached $81 million, of which 22 per cent present agriculture goods.