Bulgaria and Vietnam should capitalise on their strategic geographic positions, says president Radev

Bulgaria and Vietnam should make the most of their strategic geographic positions – Vietnam in Southeast Asia and Bulgaria in Southeast Europe – acting as a gateway for goods and services from Asia to Europe, President Rumen Radev said on Thursday. He was speaking at the opening of a business forum in Sofia, aimed at promoting cooperation between Bulgarian and Vietnamese companies, according to the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA).

Bulgaria is hosting a Vietnamese delegation led by To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, which includes more than 40 representatives from government institutions and leading companies.

• Vietnam Communist Party leader To Lam on official visit to Bulgaria

The forum, organised by Bulgaria’s Executive Agency for Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion in partnership with the Vietnamese Foreign Investment Agency, is intended to foster contacts and showcase opportunities for partnership and joint projects between companies from both countries.

Pharmaceuticals, information and communication technologies, high-tech manufacturing, automotive and transport, clean energy, agriculture and food processing, digital infrastructure, aviation and telecommunications are the key sectors at the forum, where participants have the opportunity to meet potential partners and explore collaboration on joint ventures.

Economic and trade relations between Bulgaria and Vietnam have seen significant growth this year. Official data show that, in 2024, trade between the two countries reached $292 million, a 33.5% increase from the previous year, with a further 29% rise reported in the first months of 2025.