The management of Sofia Tech Park discussed the possibilities for cooperation with representatives of the Indonesian business in the field of high technology, education and innovation. The potential partnerships were discussed at workshops held at the Bulgarian-Indonesian Business Forum in Sofia, organized by BCCI as part of the program of the Indonesian Foreign Minister Ruto Marsudi’s official visit to Bulgaria. The event was attended by nearly 50 business representatives from both countries, 12 of whom are Indonesian. Representatives of the Science and Technology Park Sofia took part in the meetings including Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of STP Kostadin Petkov, Chairman of the Management Board Vasil Karaivanov and Executive Director Todor Mladenov. Representatives of Indonesian companies presented the achievements of the Park so far, the guidelines for work and priority areas – ICT, life sciences, green energy, as well as the opportunities it has provided for the development of innovative business ideas.
“For the first five months of 2019, the trade with Indonesia is worth $ 137.3 million, an increase of nearly 300% compared to the same period in 2018,” Economy Minister Emil Karanikolov said in his opening statement. He stressed that our country has the potential to attract Indonesian investments and provide favorable opportunities for activities in a number of fields such as information and communication technologies, electronics and electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, auto parts, high-tech industrial production and more. Indonesia’s economy is the largest in Southeast Asia with over 250 million users.
“I think what we need to do more is to increase high technology cooperation. I am convinced that in Sofia Tech Park, the Indonesian business can find a good place and a platform with companies to develop good cooperation”, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva said earlier. She stressed that since 2016, the two countries have been negotiating a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement and she hoped that the next round of negotiations at the end of the year would make more tangible progress towards supporting business in both countries – the EU and Indonesia.