Minister Angelkova talked in Riyadh with Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

The Bulgarian Minister is on a working visit to Saudi Arabia at his invitation, she presented the opportunities for investment in Bulgaria

The Bulgarian Minister of Tourism Nikolina Angelkova talked in Riyadh with His Royal Highness Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud - Prince of the Kingdom and chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage. She is on a working visit to the country at his invitation together with representatives of the Bulgarian tourism business. During the meeting, the Minister stressed that the Kingdom is among Bulgaria’s desired partners for cooperation in different spheres, and the opening of a Bulgarian Embassy in Riyadh is forthcoming.

A major event in the history of bilateral relations is the official visit of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov to the Kingdom in November 2017, Minister Angelkova pointed out and thanked His Royal Highness for the organized visit to our delegation at the National Museum of Saudi Arabia. The Prince then acquainted guests with the exhibition “The Roads of Arabia”, part of the cultural institution’s fund, and discussed the possibilities for exchange of traveling museum exhibitions in the two capitals.

During last year’s government visit, a political will was expressed to achieve rapid progress and decisive strengthening of the mutual dialogue between competent institutions of the two countries at different levels, Minister Angelkova emphasized. She pointed out that concrete steps are underway on the Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation in Tourism that was signed in Sofia personally by the Prince during his visit to the Bulgarian capital in October 2016. He then managed to see some of the natural and cultural landmark in the region. In addition to Riyadh, Minister Angelkova had fruitful meetings with him during the last two years in major economic and tourism forums in Madrid, Chengdu, Buenos Aires.

Our country provides extremely favorable conditions for business partners and foreign investors, said Minister Angelkova. In her opinion, a future air link between Bulgaria and Saudi Arabia will contribute to bringing the two countries together and exploring their potential as economies and tourist assets.

Minister Angelkova also attracted attention to Bulgaria’s policy to develop sustainable tourism through the promotion of cultural heritage. Our idea is to create a common map of Europe’s cultural and historical landmarks as well as a Balkans Itinerary, the main themes of which are the UNESCO heritage, she said.

The Minister also addressed a personal invitation to His Royal Highness for participation in the forthcoming Second International Congress of World Civilizations and Historical Routes, which is being prepared jointly with the UN World Tourism Organization in November 2018. In fulfillment of the commitments under the Memorandum of Understanding, a visit to Bulgaria of representatives of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage is forthcoming in 2019, during which the link between tourism, craftsmanship and arts will be discussed. A joint business forum is also foreseen. Bulgaria will also present itself as a competitive four-season destination at the Jeddah Intl. Travel & Tourism Exhibition and Riyadh Travel Fair next year, it was announced at the meeting.