Over the past 10 years, trade turnover between Bulgaria and the Czech Republic has tripled, reaching 1.727 billion euros, which is evidence to the prospects for strengthening co-operation. This is what Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic Jozef Síkela said at the opening of the Czech-Bulgarian Business Forum under the motto "Together We Achieve More".

President Rumen Radev said that the excellent relations between the Bulgarian and Czech people are a solid basis for the development of successful business relations and highlighted opportunities for deepening the partnership between the two countries. They are in the spheres of innovation, information technology, the automotive and defense industries, energy, healthcare, tourism and infrastructure.

Opportunities for bilateral trade to reach 2 billion euros next year exist, as the main challenges to the business are the effects of the pandemic, the EU energy crisis and the war in Ukraine. According to the President, it was no longer enough to develop a business based on established market approaches. "Success today depends on the ability to create sustainable partnerships for investment and joint projects in innovation and development," Radev pointed out.