The Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry was the host of the traditional meeting of the Club of Joint and Foreign Chambers in Bulgaria. BCCI President Tsvetan Simeonov officially opened the event and presented an overview of the economic situation in Bulgaria, focusing on the draft budget for 2025 and on the electricity prices.
Boryana Abadzhieva, Chief Expert on Economic Analyses and Policy at BCCI, presented the results from the 32nd annual edition of the European Economic Survey of EUROCHAMBRES (EES2025). Ms Abadzhieva shared that more than 680 entrepreneurs – representatives of the Bulgarian business, have taken part in the Survey and their expectations slightly lowered compared with last year but the overall attitude remained optimistic. She emphasised the fact that about 53% of the surveyed Bulgarian companies have positive expectations for a more favourable business climate in 2025. The main challenges for next year, indicated by businesses in percentage terms, are related to the lack of qualified personnel (63%), labour costs (58%) and the conditions for financing (49%), Abadzhieva further announced.
Gabriela Dimitrova, Director of the Directorate for International Cooperation and International Organisations at BCCI, presented the Programme on the EU Japan & the Republic of Korea Business Hub which aims to finance Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises to penetrate these markets, in particular, in three key areas - the green sector and ecology, digital solutions and the health sector (healthcare and medical equipment).
The Heads of the newly established organisations – the Bulgaria-Kazakhstan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bulgaria-Moldova Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Bulgarian-Czech Chamber of Commerce – presented their activities and objectives.
During the subsequent discussion, more than 20 representatives of the participating Joint Chambers presented information about their activities and forthcoming initiatives.