December 5 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria said on Monday it plans to grant investment incentives next year to over 20 projects worth a combined 400 million levs ($217.6 million/205 million euro) which are expected to create more than 6,000 jobs.
Under a two-class (A and B) certification system, the Bulgarian government's investment promotion agency offers incentives to domestic and international investors such as shortened administrative procedures, financial support for vocational training, reimbursement of labour costs and transfer of real estate ownership. The incentives are related to the amount of initial investment in tangible and intangible assets and the number of jobs that the investor plans to open.
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In 2016, InvestBulgaria agency has certified 18 investment projects, twice as much compared to last year, worth a combined 297.4 million levs which are expected to lead to the opening of 4,044 new jobs, the agency said in a statement.
There is ongoing interest in production of car parts in the country from automotive manufacturers, Stamen Yanev, CEO of Invest Bulgaria agency said in the statement.
Over the past five years, the agency granted investment incentives to 9 projects in the automotive sector worth more than 310 million levs, which led to the opening of 6,500 new jobs.
Revenues from production of automotive components in the country reached 1.55 billion euro last year, which represents 3.5% of Bulgaria's gross domestic product (GDP), InvestBulgaria said. The sector employs more than 33,000.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)