Bulgaria's competitive advantages as an investment destination and possibilities for strategic and
business partnership in economy, energy and tourism were on the agenda of Economy, Energy and Tourism Minister Traicho Traikov's official visit to Ljubljana, his ministry said.

This has been the first visit by a Bulgarian economy minister to Slovenia in the past 15 years.

The two countries will use their potential, experience and good practices to boost business development in the region, said Traikov during the opening of a Bulgarian-Slovene business forum, which drew record-high interest among Slovene businesses.

It was attended by more than 60 Slovene and 20 Bulgarian companies operating in the high tech industry, machine building, logistics and transport, the food industry and the trade fair industry.

The forum took stock of the fact that the lack of a direct transport link between Bulgaria and Slovenia hampers efficient bilateral contacts. The issue dominated talks between Traikov and his Slovene counterpart Matej Lahovnik. The two ministers concurred that the lack of a direct transport link between Bulgaria and Slovenia is inadmissible.

Traikov and Lahovnik discussed possibilities for boosting development of air, rail and sea transport corridors. One option is to encourage Slovenia's national carrier Adria to renew plans for a direct
flight service to a Bulgarian airport.
Lahovnik said that Ljubljana plans on developing its tourist infrastructure.
For his part, Traikov offered Bulgarian expertise in the sector.

The two ministers discussed energy issues, among which common projects for both countries like South Stream and Nabucco, renewable energy sources development and energy efficiency. The two countries concurred that they should coordinate their positions in the EU on issues related to energy and trade.

Within his visit Minister Traikov met Zdenko Pavcek, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia and representatives of leading Slovene companies Merkator, the Slovenian Railways, Viator&Vektor, Turboinstitut.

Merkator's leadership plans to invest 50 million euro by 2011 in four new outlets in Bulgaria, it emerged during Traikov's meeting. Viator&Vektor presented its new logistics link Lyon-Ljubljana-Sofia-Varna, which is to be launched shortly. The company also plans to open an office in Bulgaria in the near future.