February 26 (SeeNews) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on Wednesday that its vice president Alain Pilloux is starting his official visit to Bulgaria where he will hold talks for increasing investment.
"We stand ready to scale up EBRD support for competitiveness, in particular of small and medium-sized enterprises, sustainable infrastructure development, and for the resilience of financial intermediation," Pilloux said in a statement, adding that the EBRD is encouraged by the country’s aim to eventually join the eurozone.
As part of his visit, Pilloux will meet the business community and local authorities in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas. His discussions will focus on the financing needs of Bulgarian companies, ways to increase the flow of foreign investment to the country, and on the support for infrastructure development in key municipalities, the bank said.
Pilloux will also introduce the EBRD’s recently adopted strategy for Bulgaria, which will guide the lender's investment and policy engagement during the next five years.
To date, the EBRD has invested nearly 4 billion euro ($4.4 million) in Bulgaria.
($ = 0.9191 euro)