Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev called on South Korean high-tech firms Sunday to invest in his country, the "front-door" to the European Union.
"To step in Bulgaria for Korean business means to step in the region, placed between Europe and Asia; we are the front door to a 500-million people single European market," Plevneliev said in a written interview with Yonhap News Agency.
He also boasted Bulgaria's low tax levels, saying they are the sixth lowest in the world for small- and medium-sized firms and the lowest in the EU.
"We strongly welcome Korean businesses to set up in Bulgarian industrial zones and in the first innovation ecosystem in Bulgaria -- Sofia Tech Park, which could be a platform for Korean firms to start-up in Bulgaria and the EU," he said.
Bulgaria could be especially attractive for high-tech firms as it is already host to big names such as HP, IBM and Cisco.
In Bulgaria, 96 percent of Internet users have a connection speed of more than 4 Mbps, which is higher than South Korea's 95 percent, Plevenliev said.
The two sides should also make full use of the instruments established within the context of the South Korea-EU free trade agreement, he said.
Last year, two-way trade amounted to $310 million. As of September 2014, South Korean investment in Bulgaria reached an accumulated total of $263 million, while Bulgarian investment in South Korea amounted to an accumulated total of $1.2 million, according to South Korean government data.
The Bulgarian president is scheduled to arrive in South Korea Wednesday for a three-day visit marking the 25th anniversary of forging diplomatic relations between the countries.
On Thursday, he will meet with President Park Geun-hye to discuss ways to bolster cooperation in trade, investment, infrastructure building and national security, according to Park's office.
South Korea and Bulgaria will also hold a business forum and sign a number of memorandums on understanding (MOU) aimed at developing their business and cultural ties, Plevneliev said.
"One of our goals is to boost business-to-business contacts in various fields," he said, citing areas such as information and communication technologies, business process outsourcing and energy.
A special focus will be on small- and medium-sized enterprises, leading to the signing of MOUs between the Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency and the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, and between the Bulgarian Exporters Association and the Korea Importers Association, he said.
Plevneliev also stressed the importance of cultural exchanges, citing the popularity of Korean pop music and films among the Bulgarian youth.
"We are looking forward to broadening and enhancing our youth exchange by signing a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Sports," he said.
On Seoul's efforts for peaceful reunification with North Korea, Plevneliev expressed support for the process of reconciliation between the sides and the reopening of stalled six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
Bulgaria, a former communist state, has diplomatic relations with both South and North Korea,
"We know the difficult road to building a democratic society.
We know democracy is not for free, it cannot just be installed and needs to be worked for everyday," Plevneliev said. "Keeping in mind the prospects of peaceful reunification of Korea, Bulgaria is ready to share its experience and lessons learned from its transition to a free democratic society and market-based economy." (Yonhap)
