16th Session of the Bulgarian-Indian Intergovernmental Joint Commission for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation (Sofia, 8-9 April 2010)

The 16th Session of the Bulgarian-Indian Intergovernmental Joint Commission for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation was held in Sofia on 8-9 April 2010. The Bulgarian delegation was led by H.E. Mr. Traycho Traykov, Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism and the Indian delegation was led by H.E. Mr. Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry.

During his visit to Bulgaria, the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Mr. Jyotiraditya M. Scindia had meetings with H.E. Mr. Traycho Traykov, Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism; H.E. Mr. Miroslav Naydenov, Minister of Agriculture and Food, and H.E. Mr. Aleksandar Tsvetkov, Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications.

During the plenary session both sides exchanged views on priority areas of bilateral cooperation namely trade and economy, defence industry, agriculture and food, transport, information technology and communications and science and technology.

Both sides confirmed the significance of holding regular sessions of the Joint Commission at a ministerial level as an instrument for the development of the bilateral relations in all fields of mutual interest.

It was recognized that the existing bilateral legal and institutional framework in the economic field, combined with the rapid development of the Indian economy and the increased potential of Bulgaria as a member of the European Union and part of the common European market create favorable conditions for the further expansion of the trade and economic partnership between the two countries.

It was agreed that regular exchange of business delegations will contribute to establishing direct contacts between Bulgarian and Indian companies.

A Protocol of the 16th Session of the Bulgarian-Indian Intergovernmental Joint Commission for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation was signed setting up the framework of the further bilateral cooperation in those fields.