India, one of the fastest growing economies in the world with its 7^th place in the world and third place in Asia in terms of GDP, offers vast business opportunities to Bulgarian companies, says Stefan Ionkov, Head of the Commercial and Economic Office in the New Delhi area.

Which Bulgarian products have the potential to enter the Indian market?

“Raw materials such as sunflower oil, metals and some ready products such as wine, for example,” says Stefan Ionkov. “Talks have been held for launching a project so that one of Bulgaria’s biggest wine producers may step on India’s market. The truth is that Bulgarian businesses have to be more active because making a breakthrough in India is expensive and takes a lot of traveling on site.”

What advantages do Bulgarian companies have when they start a business with other businesses in India?

“Our advantages as an investment destination are that we have the lowest taxes in the EU, that we are highly competitive when it comes to labour and real estate costs, something which is really important to Indian investors. The free movement of goods and capital within the EU is something very important to them, so when they base their businesses in Bulgaria that means they can reach out to the whole of the EU. For the moment, we have been successful with a company outsourcing its business. Bulgaria is now its hub and its investments have been expanding.”

The number of tourists from India coming to Bulgaria has been growing in recent years; Indian tourists are highly solvent and hence – much desired by tourist destinations. What aroused Indian tourists’ interest in this country?

“In 2013, when we started promoting Bulgaria as a tourist destination in India, we laid the emphasis on the things Indian tourists are interested in – new destinations, night life, golfing, spa, and all this at very affordable prices. That made Bulgaria all the more interesting to corporate tourist groups traveling to this country as a social benefit. These groups are made up of 100-200, sometimes even 400-500 people.”

Bollywood’s biggest star Shah Rukh Khan, the second wealthiest actor in the world chose to make a film here, in Bulgaria. How did it come about that Bollywood chose Bulgaria?

“In 2013, at one of the biggest tourist expositions in New Delhi I met someone whose job it was to organize film tourism abroad. As soon as I had arrived in India, I realized that Bollywood was the way to make any tourist destination popular in India, so we got down to work. In 2014 three Indian films had been shot in Bulgaria. But the biggest hit is Dilwale (The Big Hearted) starring Shah Rukh Khan which is currently being filmed in Bulgaria.”