Economic scenario of Bulgaria

Driven by a structural economic reform in the 1990s, Bulgaria moved to a more liberal, market-driven economy from a centralized planned economy. Between 2000 and 2008, Bulgaria maintained robust, average annual real GDP growth in excess of 6%, which was but followed by a deep recession in 2009 due to the global financial crisis. However, the recovery came in the later years with strong domestic demand, low energy price and prudent financial management. Following a contraction by 4.4 percent in 2020, economic recovery gained momentum in 2021. The economy grew by 4.4 percent in 2021, with export and consumption acting as the main growth engines. The strongest sectors of the Bulgarian economy include energy, mining, metallurgy, machine building, agriculture and tourism.

Bilateral merchandise trade between India and Bulgaria

India's bilateral merchandise trade with Bulgaria reached USD 420 million in 2021-22 from USD 338 million in 2018-19 with a CAGR of 7.52% where India's exports stood at USD 247 million with a CAGR of 5.17% between those four fiscals. Import from Bulgaria however recorded a higher CAGR of 11.29% between 2018-19 and 2021-22 but it was much less than the exports and stood at USD 173.2 million in 2021-22.

India's major exports to Bulgaria include organic chemicals; unmanufactured tobacco; medicaments; electric parts; wool; paving blocks, slabs, bricks; polymers of propylene; ferro-alloys. While import basket from Bulgaria include laboratory instruments & apparatus; animal feeding preparations; kraft paper; radio-broadcasng apparatus; aluminium waste & scrap; machinery for working rubber or plastics; copper waste & scrap; engines & motors.

Engineering trade between India and Bulgaria

India's engineering exports to Bulgaria crossed USD 100 million for the first time in 2021-22 and reached an all-time high of USD 112 million. The CAGR of engineering exports to Bulgaria was quite high at 11.58% between 2018-19 and 2021-22. Total bilateral engineering trade rose to USD 164.46 million in 2021-22 from USD 122.80 million in 2018-19 with a CAGR of 10.23%. Major engineering export item to Bulgaria are Iron and Steel, Aluminium and products, Products of Iron and Steel, Industrial machinery and medical instruments among others. Bulgaria on the other hand exports Medical and Scientific Instruments, Iron and Steel, Selected Industrial Machinery and Electric Machinery and Equipment as major engineering items.

Opportunity for Indian Engineering Industry in Bulgaria

Bulgaria leaves a lot of opportunity for overseas investors and traders in areas like IT, biotechnology, agriculture and food processing. It is a very good and promising market for electrical engineering and electronics sectors. A number of large international companies like Siemens, Schneider Electric, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Liebherr, ABB have discovered Bulgaria as the best destination for their business in Eastern Europe.

Apart from electrical engineering, Bulgaria has a long tradition in several mechanical engineering and industrial sectors. The country has established tradions in manufacturing and construction and offer huge opportunities for Indian businesses in engineering segments like Heavy machinery; Agricultural machinery; Cuting machines and metal processing; Machine tools; Pumps, compressors and hydraulic cylinders; Repair and maintenance of aircraft parts; ferrous and non-ferrous metals and engine parts and accessories.