European Commission programme coordinator for Bulgaria is “Deloitte Bulgaria”
27th March 2011: A special training program of the European Commission tailored for business executives provides new export opportunities to the Bulgarian companies which are trading with Japan and Korea. “Deloitte Bulgaria” coordinates the preparation of application documents and consults companies’ leaders who are willing to take this opportunity and to develop their business on those two markets.
The program aims to provide managers of European and particularly Bulgarian companies with knowledge and skills necessary to overcome the barriers in business, languages and cultures and to trade successfully in the Japanese and Korean markets.
New export opportunities worth €200million a year by 2020 could emerge for Bulgarian companies trading with Japan and Korea according to a report conducted on behalf of the European Commission. ‘The Executive Training Programme’s: EU Trade with Japan & Korea’ report maintains that if export growth from Bulgaria to Japan and Korea follows growth patterns in Bulgaria’s non-EU exports over the last ten years, Bulgarian companies could enjoy significant new export opportunities by 2020.
According to the report, distance is one of the most significant barriers to trade. However, even allowing for distance, Bulgaria ‘under-trades’ with Japan. Its per capita exports to Korea are about €2, while exports to Japan are worth 13 cents per person.
‘The Executive Training Programme’s: EU Trade with Japan & Korea’ report was conducted by economist Ronan Lyons of Oxford University, on behalf of the European Commission to launch the new cycle of its Executive Training Programme (ETP). The ETP provides European companies’ executives with the knowledge and skills necessary to overcome business, language and cultural barriers in order to trade successfully in the Japanese and Korean markets.
Commenting on the research, Tung-Lai Margue, Director, Head of the Service for Foreign Policy Instruments of the European Commission, said, “This report points to significant export opportunities for European businesses in these Asian markets. Over the past 30 years the Executive Training Programme has become a key instrument in supporting EU companies’ expansion in Japan and Korea, helping them to understand business practices in those markets and overcome language and cultural barriers to successful trade relations.”
“This report clearly highlights that, as two of the largest economies in the world, these markets offer a wealth of opportunity to European businesses. The ETP is uniquely positioned to enable European businesses to unlock the potential of these complex and idiosyncratic markets.”
