(Sept. 24) – Thirty companies will form the Italian mission organized by the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade (ICE) at International Technical Fair in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, which started today and will run until September 29. The Italian group will be housed in the Pavilion 2, in a strategic position inside the exhibition center, who covers an area of about 240 square meters. The Fair is the most important event of the entire Balkan area in the sector of technology and investment goods. In 2011, the event hosted 875 exhibitors, of which round 594 from Bulgaria and 281 from other 25 Countries . The event has been visited by 47,500 professionals from 51 countries. In terms of total interchange, Italy is the fourth partner of Bulgar ia, after Germany, Russia and Romania. The total bilateral interchange between Italy and Bulgaria came back above 3 billion euros, a result achieved for the first time in 2007, the year of accession to the EU, and settled at almost 3.4 billion euros in 2011. The most important sectors of Italian exports to Bulgaria are mechanics, textile and clothing, fashion and food. Business opportunities and growth potential are interesting ecology (water cycle and waste management, and renewable energy, with particular reference to biomass and geothermal), as well as land management, restoration and historical-architectural-urban archeology. (red)
