Bulgaria's Minister of Economy and Energy, Petar Dimitrov, will be on a working visit to Ausria in the period April 23-25. The expansion of the trade and economic cooperation between Bulgaria and Austria will top the Agenda of the visit, the press service of the Ministry of Economy and Energy said.

Dimitrov will meet with Austria's Federal Minister of Economics and Labor, Martin Bartenstein, to discuss the matters of the bilateral cooperation in the field of economy and energy, including the implementation of the project for the setting up of the Nabucco gas pipeline. Dimitrov will also meet with Viktor Sigl, Minister of Economy, Labour, Youth and Education of Upper Austria province.

Petar Dimitrov will also meet with senior officials of major Austrian companies, including OMV Gas and metallurgical giant Voest Alpine. The Bulgarian delegation will visit Voest Alpine's steel plant in Linz.

The trade turnover between Bulgaria and Austria stood at record high 1.180 bln euros in 2007, up 87% year on year. Austria is the biggest foreign investor in Bulgaria. Austrian investments in the country amounted to 3.663 bln euros in the period 1996 – 2007, accounting for 17.1% of the total FDI in Bulgaria.

Photo: BGNES