“Bulgaria Meets Indonesia” Forum Explores Economic and Education Partnership Opportunities

Deputy Foreign Minister Bulgaria Nikolay Pavlov welcomed the Bulgaria Meets Indonesia forum at President Lounge, Batavia Tower, Wednesday, October 29, 2025

JAKARTA - The President Club, a community consisting of businessmen, academics, and government officials, has again held a business forum titled Global Shifts, Local Strategies: Bulgaria Meets Indonesia. This activity discusses economic growth and strategies to deal with the dynamics of global change.

The Forum which took place at President Lounge, Batavia Tower, Wednesday, October 29, presented Bulgaria Deputy Foreign Minister (Wamenlu) Nikolay Pavlov. He was accompanied by the Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to Indonesia, Tanya Dimitrova, and the Head of the Trade and Economic Office of the Bulgarian Embassy, Daniel Dobrev.

This event was attended by more than 100 participants consisting of students, entrepreneurs, academics, and government officials.

In his presentation, Pavlov explained that Bulgaria is one of the countries in the Southeast European region with a distance of about 10,000 kilometers from Jakarta. He emphasized that Bulgaria's economy grew stable thanks to the strong foundation in the form of a conducive investment climate, mutually beneficial international cooperation, competitive tax rates, human resource development, and digital transformation in various sectors.

"We are open to collaborating with various countries, including Indonesia, both in the trade and investment sector," said Pavlov, Wednesday, October 29.

According to Pavlov, Bulgaria views Indonesia as a potential partner in Southeast Asia because it has a large economy, a diverse industrial sector, and a dynamic young population.

He assessed that the two sectors have a great opportunity to develop together, namely tourism and education.

In the tourism sector, cooperation can be strengthened through ease of travel between residents to increase the flow of tourists, while in the education sector, Bulgaria opens opportunities for student exchange programs.

Responding to this, the Chairman of the President University Education Foundation, Prof. Budi Susilo Soepandji, positively welcomed the cooperation plan. He considered collaboration in the field of education to be very open, especially for President University.

"President University has long run student exchange programs and is home to foreign students from various countries," he said.

Based on data from the Ministry of Education and Culture's Learning Permit platform (Directorate General Dikti Ristek), President University is listed as a university with the highest number of foreign students in Indonesia.

The interactive discussion was warm, especially at the question and answer session which highlighted concrete opportunities for cooperation in the fields of economy, technology, and education.

Executive Director of the President Club, Prof Chandra Setiawan, said that this forum is expected to be a bridge to expand participants' insight into Bulgaria's economic conditions and its growth strategy.

"Through this forum, we hope that participants can get to know Bulgaria better, understand its economic priorities, and find collaboration opportunities that can be developed together," said Prof. Chandra.