Foreign investors ‘thriving’ in bulgaria

Bulgaria’s economic growth rate has averaged 5.1% since 2000, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit.

Going forward, Bulgaria is in line for an average of almost 6% growth in 2008-09. Prior to EU entry significant foreign direct investment was enjoyed by the nation as international individuals and companies took a chance on Bulgaria joining the EU.

They sought to cash in on the country's likely EU funding which it would receive if entry was achieved, and which is a means for new entrants to speed up development, especially in terms of infrastructure.

Now, following EU entry FDI levels have continued to develop and over the past three years Bulgaria has received almost 7 billion euros worth of foreign direct investment in total.

Real Estate fuelling Bulgarian growth

A great deal of this investment has gone into both real estate and travel and tourism. Bulgaria has seen growth rates of up to 15% in certain sectors of its tourism industry in 2007 and the World Travel and Tourism Council further predict that average annual growth rates of at least 4.6% will be enjoyed by the country between now and 2017.

One of the other most significant sectors of maximum interest to foreign investors is of course real estate. According to Irini Tzortzoglou who is the Head of Retail Banking at Piraeus Bank London: “the property market and overall real estate and construction industries have been some of the most successful and prosperous economic sectors in Bulgaria both leading up to and then immediately following EU entry.

“Four billion euros worth of foreign investment entered Bulgaria in 2006 alone which was equivalent to 16% of the nation's GDP at the time, and a third of this investment went into the real estate market. Since EU entry the rate of investment in this sector has not slowed.”