Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Bulgaria, Mongolia to improve educational, agricultural, scientific and ministerial cooperation

President of Bulgaria Rosen Plevneliev and the President of Mongolia, Ts.Elbegdorj, discussed the development of trade and economic relations between the countries on Monday, the press center of the President’s Office announced.
The Bulgarian head of State has been on a three-day visit to Mongolia since Sunday. The state visit takes place within the context of the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The Head of the Bulgarian State defined Mongolia as an important partner and friend of Bulgaria in Asia. “We will develop bilateral relations in the field of mining, pharmaceutics, and cosmetics, energy, agriculture, and food production, information and communication technologies, defense, as well as building modern infrastructure. We seek all-round partnership and cooperation,” President Plevneliev commented.
He listed as opportunities for cooperation the Bulgarian pharmaceutic companies looking for joint ventures and production in Mongolia. Plevneliev added that Mongolia is already trading in Bulgarian medicinal products, but there are greater prospects in this sphere. Food production also offers serious prospects and Bulgarian companies will be encouraged to produce in Mongolia and to enter big markets, such as the Chinese one, through joint ventures with Mongolian partners, he noted. Specific cooperation opportunities also exist in the defense industry where, for example, the production of night vision equipment by Bulgaria’s OPTIX Co. could be sold in Mongolia.
A number of documents were inked at an official ceremony attended by both presidents, including an agreement on the implementation of a program for technical aid in the agriculture sector; an agreement between the education ministries of Bulgaria and Mongolia on the implementation of a scholarship program in the field of agricultural sciences to train Mongolian students at Bulgarian state higher education establishments; an agreement between the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences on scientific cooperation; and a memorandum of understanding between the Bulgarian and Mongolian foreign ministries.
Ts.Elbegdorj thanked the Bulgarian side for its support for cooperation between Mongolia and the European Union. In his words, Mongolia is convinced that its best friend and ally in Europe is Bulgaria. Plevneliev made a reference to the ratification by the Bulgarian National Assembly of the Framework Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation between the EU and Mongolia, and said that this agreement will give Mongolia the opportunity to widen its cooperation with the European Union and will strengthen Bulgarian-Mongolian relations.
Mentioning that some 5,000 Mongolians have graduated from Bulgarian universities and institutes, and more than 3,000 have been involved in mid-career training in Bulgaria, the two presidents also noted Bulgaria’s contribution in the training of Mongolian students and specialists. Ts.Elbegdorj said that Mongolia will send students in Bulgaria for training in IT and environmental sciences.
Plevneliev recalled that Bulgaria reinstated its embassy in Ulaanbaatar and noted that work is underway for opening a consulate as well. He said that Bulgaria has an ambitious program for expansion of cooperation, which also means more effective visa-issuing.
On the same day, Plevneliev opened a monument to the Cyrillic letters at a school in Ulaanbaatar. Mongolia is the only non-Slav country using Cyrillic writing. The monument was unveiled on the Day of Saints Cyril and Methodius, who invented the earliest version of the Slavonic alphabet in 9th century AD.
According to Bulgarian News Agency BTA, the presidents announced during the joint press conference that followed their bilateral talks that Mongolia will study Bulgaria’s experience with the construction of the Sofia underground railway system. The Mayor of Ulaanbaatar is preparing to visit the Bulgarian capital and acquaint himself with the project. “Bulgaria is known in Eastern Europe for its fast and nice metro and we would like to use the experience with the Sofia metro’s construction in a short time with small expenditures,” President Ts.Elbegdorj said.
Mongolia and the Republic of Bulgaria established diplomatic relations on April 22, 1950. In 1961, the two countries opened their respective embassies in Ulaanbaatar and Sofia. Mongolia and Bulgaria had intensive relations from 1960 to 1990. However, bilateral relations have been diminished in recent years. But both sides have started to take the initiative to restoring bilateral relations since 1994.

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