BILATERAL relations, Bulgaria's EU and NATO accession, counter-terrorism and the Iraq crisis, and Bulgarian-Portuguese co-operation within the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, topped the agenda of a three-day visit to Lisbon by Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg.
Saxe-Coburg made the visit at the invitation of Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso.
Two Portuguese business delegations will visit Bulgaria in May and June, Bulgarian Foreign Investment Agency president Pavel Ezekiev told Bulgarian journalists in Lisbon last Sunday.
Ezekiev opened a seminar on "Economic Relations between Portugal and Bulgaria," in which more than 30 Portuguese companies involved in construction, the energy sector, tourism, mechanical engineering and light industry took part.
He said the Portuguese entrepreneurs had shown interest mainly in the construction of roads, resorts and hydroelectric power stations, as well as in outward processing in the tailoring and food industries.
Ezekiev said Portuguese investors were experienced in dealing with funds from the EU pre-accession and post-accession facilities, as well as in procuring money for co-financing of such projects.
Investment opportunities in winter, seaside and cultural tourism in Bansko, Pamporovo, Arapya, Tsarevo, Petrich and Marikostinovo were also presented.
There were also briefings on the power industry, projects for construction of the Gorna Arda cascade chain of hydropower facilities, of dams and gas pipelines.
ICEP Portugal is also empowered to extend preferential treatment, such as granting tax exemption for up to 20 per cent of the funds invested in a given project.
Saxe-Coburg also had meetings with the Vice President of the Assembly of the Republic, Dr Leonor Belza, and attended a dinner hosted by Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio.
The opportunities for presentation of Bulgarian culture and arts in Portugal were discussed by Saxe-Coburg and senior officials of the Gulbenkian Foundation, named after Armenian-born Calouste Gulbenkian who, on his death in 1955, bequeathed $60 million for the support of culture, the arts and scientific research.
The Bulgarian delegation included Saxe-Coburg's Cabinet chief Radi Naidenov, Deputy Foreign Minister Lyubomir Ivanov, Ezekiev, Tosho Peikov MP of the ruling National Movement Simeon II (NMSII), who chairs the Bulgaria-Portugal Friendship Group, and NMSII MP Alexi Alexiev.
Last year Bulgaria and Portugal traded goods worth $37.2 million, of which $14.2 million was the value of Bulgarian exports and $23 million the value of imports from Portugal. In 2001, two-way trade amounted to $40.4 million ($18.9 million exports and $21.5 million imports).
Saxe-Coburg made the visit at the invitation of Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso.
Two Portuguese business delegations will visit Bulgaria in May and June, Bulgarian Foreign Investment Agency president Pavel Ezekiev told Bulgarian journalists in Lisbon last Sunday.
Ezekiev opened a seminar on "Economic Relations between Portugal and Bulgaria," in which more than 30 Portuguese companies involved in construction, the energy sector, tourism, mechanical engineering and light industry took part.
He said the Portuguese entrepreneurs had shown interest mainly in the construction of roads, resorts and hydroelectric power stations, as well as in outward processing in the tailoring and food industries.
Ezekiev said Portuguese investors were experienced in dealing with funds from the EU pre-accession and post-accession facilities, as well as in procuring money for co-financing of such projects.
Investment opportunities in winter, seaside and cultural tourism in Bansko, Pamporovo, Arapya, Tsarevo, Petrich and Marikostinovo were also presented.
There were also briefings on the power industry, projects for construction of the Gorna Arda cascade chain of hydropower facilities, of dams and gas pipelines.
ICEP Portugal is also empowered to extend preferential treatment, such as granting tax exemption for up to 20 per cent of the funds invested in a given project.
Saxe-Coburg also had meetings with the Vice President of the Assembly of the Republic, Dr Leonor Belza, and attended a dinner hosted by Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio.
The opportunities for presentation of Bulgarian culture and arts in Portugal were discussed by Saxe-Coburg and senior officials of the Gulbenkian Foundation, named after Armenian-born Calouste Gulbenkian who, on his death in 1955, bequeathed $60 million for the support of culture, the arts and scientific research.
The Bulgarian delegation included Saxe-Coburg's Cabinet chief Radi Naidenov, Deputy Foreign Minister Lyubomir Ivanov, Ezekiev, Tosho Peikov MP of the ruling National Movement Simeon II (NMSII), who chairs the Bulgaria-Portugal Friendship Group, and NMSII MP Alexi Alexiev.
Last year Bulgaria and Portugal traded goods worth $37.2 million, of which $14.2 million was the value of Bulgarian exports and $23 million the value of imports from Portugal. In 2001, two-way trade amounted to $40.4 million ($18.9 million exports and $21.5 million imports).
