ECE ORGANIZES TOUR OF BULGARIA'S CHEMICAL INDUSTRY

11 March 1996

Press Release
ECE/464

ECE ORGANIZES TOUR OF BULGARIA'S CHEMICAL INDUSTRY

19960311 GENEVA, 6 March (UN Information Service) -- As part of its annual programme of study tours of the chemical industry in European countries, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) is organizing a tour of the chemical industry of Bulgaria during the last week of June. The chemical industry of Bulgaria is presently undergoing major changes in ownership, with the rapid development of privatization with foreign investment.

Bulgaria's population of nine million people -- just slightly smaller than that of Belgium -- is well-served by a broad-based but largely unknown domestic chemical industry, from petrochemical refineries through most branches of the chemical industry. The parallel to Belgium is appropriate, as many companies are strategically located at ports on the Black Sea, with direct access to the Mediterranean, as well as central Europe, countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and western Asia.

The tour will start in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Sunday, 23 June. Following meetings with Government and industry leaders, numerous leading chemical facilities will be visited throughout the country during the following week, covering petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, fertilizers, basic chemicals, fine chemicals and cosmetics, polymer production and plastics processing. The tour will conclude on Saturday, 29 June.

The purpose of the study tour is to provide information about the increasingly privatized Bulgarian chemical industry to potential joint venture partners, suppliers and customers, investors and journalists, and to facilitate contact between these people and the appropriate Bulgarian counterparts. Participation in the tour is open to representatives of the chemical industry, trade associations, non-governmental organizations, government representatives, journalists and international organizations concerned with development of the chemical industry in countries in transition. Further information can be obtained from: Chemical Industry Section, UN-ECE, Palais des Nations, Room 400-10, CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland; tel: 41-22-917-3254; fax: 41-22-917-0178; email: hornfeld.ece@unog.ch.

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