3 Alexander Tassev 1 , Daniela Bobeva 2 Iskra Balkanska 3 , Mitko Dimitrov 4 Spartak Keremidchiev 5 , Tatiana Houbenova 6 Victor Yotzov 7 , Nedialko Nestorov 8 Teodora Peneva 9 Volume 29 (1), 2020 OPPORTUNITIES AND PROSPECTS FOR JAPAN’S INVESTMENTS IN BULGARIA This expert report has been prepared by Economic Research Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, in connection with the initiative of the President of the Republic and the Embassy of Japan for a Bulgaria-Japan Business Meeting on February 5 th , 2020. It presents an analysis and assessment of the opportunities and prospects for Japan’s investments in Bulgaria, in particular: • Main trends in Japan’s investments in the EU Member States from Central and South-Eastern Europe (CSEE) are studied and outlined to identify the specifics of Japan‘s investments abroad by countries, sectors, productions, forms, in which they invest. In this way, a targeted approach is introduced, tailored to the specifics of these investments. • A historical overview is presented – the successes of trade and economic cooperation in the area of investments, in order to outline how the good practices and experiences in the past would support future investments from Japan in Bulgaria. • A critical review of the comparative advantages of investing in Bulgaria is presented along with an identification of those, that are important to Japanese investors. • Studied is the current European regulatory framework for foreign investments in order to identify the opportunities and policies that could support Japanese investors in Bulgaria as an EU Member State. • Outlined are important strategic priorities of the Bulgarian economy in regard to the development of innovations, information technologies and green economy, in order to direct the interest of Japanese investors towards them. 1 Alexander Tassev is Prof. Dr., Director of Economic Research Institute at BAS. 2 Daniela Bobeva is Prof. Dr. in Economic Research Institute at BAS. 3 Iskra Balkanska is Prof. Dr. in Economic Research Institute at BAS. 4 Mitko Dimitrov is Prof. Dr. in Economic Research Institute at BAS. 5 Spartak Keremidchiev is Prof. Dr. in Economic Research Institute at BAS. 6 Tatiana Houbenova is Prof. Dr. in Economic Research Institute at BAS. 7 Victor Yotzov is Assoc. Prof. Dr. in Economic Research Institute at BAS. 8 Nedialko Nestorov is Chief Assist. Dr. in Economic Research Institute at BAS. 9 Teodora Peneva is Chief Assist. Dr. in Economic Research Institute at BAS.