Bulgaria eyes import of cotton, rice from Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Bulgaria’s Deputy Economy Minister Liliya Ivanove said that her country was looking forward to extensive cooperation in the field of agriculture with Pakistan including sustainable export of cotton and rice from Pakistan to Bulgaria.

The visiting Bulgarian minister made the remarks while meeting Federal Minister Sahibzada Mehboob Sultan in Islamabad on Monday, a government press release said. She was accompanied by Bulgarian Ambassador Mr Roumen Pirontchev.

“It is a pleasure to learn agriculture is also included in the agenda of the IGC Session and we are hopeful that our technical experts would come up with agreed points for our joint endeavors in the field of agriculture,” Mr Sultan said.

He said said that Pakistan was world’s fifth largest milk producing country in the world and since Bulgaria has developed its strength in various areas of agriculture including livestock and animal breeding and both countries could mutually benefit in this sector.

“Our government is focusing on this sector. Our Government in collaboration with our Provincial Governments is planning to focus areas including enhancing production of crops, livestock, and fisheries and also improving water management.”

The Ambassador of Bulgaria offered cooperation in the field of animal’s medicines of which Bulgaria is quite famous for. It is worth mentioning that Pakistan exports cotton fabrics, synthetic fabric, chemical materials & products, sports goods and toys to Bulgaria. Federal Minister Mehboob Sultan said that two sides will follow up cooperation in the areas being identified during the IGC session.

Bulgaria is a member of the European Union, NATO, and the Council of Europe; it is a founding state of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and has taken a seat on the UN Security Council three times. Its market economy is part of the European Single Market and mostly relies on services; followed by industry—especially machine building and mining—and agriculture. Agricultural cooperation is included in the agenda of the 2nd meeting of Pak-Bulgaria Inter-Ministerial Commission (IGC) being hosted by Pakistan on 20-21 May, 2019 at Islamabad.

Major areas of cooperation include livestock and buffalo breeding, food processing, food safety and Phyto-sanitary measures.