The global downturn has caused trade between Bulgaria and the European Union to shrink by 30 or 40 per cent, said Thursday Belgian Ambassador to Bulgaria Marc Michielsen in Pernik. He was attending a concluding meeting under a project for improving competitiveness of Bulgarian bakers and pastry makers, funded by the Flemish government.

According to Michielsen, the machine equipment market is suffering worst. Bulgarian companies used to import machines for the textile industry from Belgium, but they have put investment on hold. In his words, exports of Bulgarian farming equipment to Belgium and France have also seen a plunge.

Michielsen said that unlike the global crisis in the 30s of 20th c, now new regulations could help the EU put the situation under control.

At a seminar Thursday in Pleven on bank lending in times of crisis, held by the Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency and the German Society for Technical Cooperation, economic expert Jochen Sechendorff assessed in positive terms the performance of Bulgarian banks.

Bulgarian banking experts are acting very professionally in the conditions of the global crisis, Seckendorff said. "My impression is that the Bulgarian banks are very carefully considering their moves and respond accordingly," he said. One of the effects of the crisis is that banks are experiencing problems with liquidity and they have tightened lending. Sechendorff advised prospective borrowers to hold preliminary interviews with banks to get familiar with theirs expectations.

Sechendorff said he is an optimist and he thinks that at this stage the industry has a vast potential to respond timely to changing conditions. In the US consumers' trust is slowly recovering and when the US industry sees some growth, in 2010 the world economy will start to recover.

Dr Jochen Sechendorff has over twenty years' experience in the German banking sector and in other countries. He has served on the managing board of European banks and has managerial experience. He will share his experience with companies from the region for winning strategies when applying for loans.

Source: BTA