Bulgarian PM Borissov holds talks with Saudi delegation on bilateral co-operation
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borissov held talks in Sofia on December 24 with a delegation headed by Saudi Prince Turki bin Mohamed bin Fahad bin Abdulazis al Saud, advisor to the royal court, telling him: “Saudi Arabia is a promising foreign economic partner of Bulgaria”.
A Bulgarian government statement said that the purpose of the meeting, held at the Cabinet building, was to discuss specific actions to strengthen co-operation between the two countries.
Borissov and the Saudi prince discussed bilateral co-operation in infrastructure, energy, industry and the food industry, the statement said.
It said that the December 24 talks were part of the dialogue established after Borissov paid an official visit to Saudi Arabia at the end of November 2017, the first such high-level visit in the history of the countries’ bilateral relations.
The Bulgarian government statement made no reference to the issue that has kept Saudi Arabia in international headlines since the beginning of October, the murder of Saudi dissident and columnist Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Turkey’s largest city Istanbul.
The statement said that the Saudi prince “expressed heartfelt appreciation for the hospitality and welcomed the top-level co-operation between the two countries”.
“Today’s visit is confirmation of this. We will work for the successful implementation of all ideas in the fields of economics, trade and policy,” he said.
At the talks, it was agreed that Bulgarian Economy Minister Emil Karanikolov would visit Saudi Arabia where, with his counterpart, he would begin work on specific projects.
The Bulgarian government statement said that the Saudi delegation included the counsellor to the general secretariat of the council of ministers Ahmed Agil Alhatib, the deputy head of the Saudi Fund for Development Halid Sulayman Alhidairi, international relations adviser Hayfa Jedea, royal court staffers Favaz Mohammed Alhazhdi and Tamer Mohamed Alhuhayni and the deputy director of cyber security, Mohamed Saleh Alhomrani.
(Photo: government.bg)
