On the sidelines of the Bulgarian-Greek business forum on October 3 Dimitrios Michas – Minister Plenipotentiary for Economic and Commercial Affairs to the Embassy of Greece in Sofia – gave an exclusive interview for the banker.bg.
Mr. Michas, do you think that the wage increase in Bulgaria will prevent Greek companies to enter Bulgarian market and work in Bulgaria?
– The answer is very simple: Bulgaria and Greece are very close to each other; they are neighbors, and the equivalents of the salaries are not the main factor. For me, the main factor is the steady environment, the control of bureaucracy, if any, and the most important for the good trade environment are lands – the proximity of the countries – Bulgaria, Greece, Romania – without any passport and transport control. So, I don’t believe that the payment is a major factor. As you know, the major factor is the lack of people in Bulgaria to hire, because there are many Bulgarians abroad in search of better salaries and a better life.
I asked this question as there are comments that wage increases urged some foreign companies to leave Bulgaria because of lower profits.
– In my opinion, companies know that the success of their products, as well as their services, depends on how they promote the product itself at a fair price. So, for me, the labor cost is, of course important, but not in such extent. The main factor is people working for you to promote and market their product correctly and we’ll have no problems.
What improvements and measures are needed, in your view, to make our business more competitive?
Schengen area membership is Number One for me. Number Two is peer-to-peer meetings like this today: Bulgarian Chamber and agencies and Greek organizations working together.
The usual habit is Bulgarian tourist to come to Thessaloniki for exhibitions, as it is very near, and Greeks to drive a couple of hours to Bulgaria. However, the real need is they to come to premises. So, we need to increase the volume of visits – from Greece to Bulgaria and vice versa – but not only to see the exhibitions, but to go to companies and to make common projects together and to also take advantage of the European funding and to make synergies from future companies that will seize these opportunities.
We need more people-to-people interaction. As it’s not innovations, but people that make the numbers. The more people discussing with each other, the more synergies, the more cooperation between us, the more economic and social benefits.
Train connection between Bulgaria and Greece is not working. What is the reason?
– We have problems with this. The trains in Greece are not as developed as we wanted. In Bulgaria and Greece, we like cars, we like planes, and trains have been left behind. And there is a big opportunity in them, because the European Union is giving money to develop the network, and most importantly – to connect.
We need interconnection by train between Greece and Bulgaria which will help for more synergy between the two countries. We need fast reliable train connections which will be good for both economies. And here the main point is not just the train, but how to efficiently combine the two-railway systems speed for creating synergies and how to operate the cargo trains, not the passenger. Because we need to get goods fast from the ports of Greece to Greek mainland and then to the mainland of the Balkans. So, we need trains as a necessary infrastructure.
I do believe that this is a common problem and thinking in both governments of Bulgaria and Greece and the transport sectors connectivity is most urgent task.
At the end, do you want to share something special for our audience?
– I want to close this interview by saying that for me, the most important thing in our relationship are people. It’s not the numbers, it’s not the company profits: people are creating wealth, people are creating connectivity, people are creating synergies.
Because Bulgarian and Greeks have a lot in common culturally, it’s easier for us to do business. And I want to invite every Bulgarian who has been in Greece and had nice time there, not only to think of it as a lovely country to pass time during summer holidays, but also to do business.