Foreign and Military Affairs

China, Bulgaria seek hi-tech co-op

By Kelly Chung Dawson (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-09-24 10:37

United Nations - Premier Wen Jiabao and Bulgaria's Prime Minister Boyko Borisov on Thursday in New York after Wen's speech to the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Borisov said earlier in the week that his scheduled meeting with Wen would be the most important of Bulgaria's meetings at the Millennium Development Goals summit.

"I am really hopeful with respect to the meeting with my colleague Wen Jiabao here," Borisov said. In reference to the EU Council's announcement last week that China will be a strategic partner for the Union, he said that Bulgaria is ahead of the curve.

"We are already ahead in our meetings with the Chinese, and in our investment plans," he said. "We want to see China establish hi-tech zones in Bulgaria, a permanent technology expo for Europe, and allow them to utilize the potential of the Bulgarian ports. Our ports are some of the most attractive ones in the EU."

Among Borisov's other meetings were talks with World Bank President Robert Zoellick, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and UN General Assembly Chair Joseph Deiss.

Bulgaria has openly courted Chinese investors in recent months, and in early September President Georgi Parvanov met with Wang Yang, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China's Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Guangdong provincial committee, to discuss opportunities for Chinese investment in Bulgarian nuclear energy.

During that meeting Parvanov reiterated upon Bulgaria's 2009 announcement that the country intended to expand economic cooperation and investment with China. Bulgarian political forces are united in their belief that developing relations with China would be beneficial, Parvanov said.

He cited beneficial tax laws, qualified workers and exceptional business conditions as reasons China should consider Bulgaria. The two nations also recently announced intentions to work together on the Bozhurishte Industrial Zone, a business zone managed jointly by both Chinese and Bulgarian partners and occupied primarily by Chinese companies.

The two countries have enjoyed a 60-year bilateral friendship that began with Bulgaria's acknowledgement of the People's Republic of China in 1949, only the second country to do so.