Economy, investment and industry minister Alexander Pulev said Sliven should be at the centre of Bulgaria's new economic policy and not stay on the sidelines of change. He spoke at a meeting with business leaders and local officials in the city.

Sliven is about 100 km from the Kapitan Andreevo border crossing and roughly the same distance from the port of Burgas. Deputy ministers and MPs from the region also attended the meeting.

Pulev said the government is pursuing a policy of faster economic development, which needs constant dialogue with industry. "That is why we are travelling all over the country. We are not afraid to look business in the eye and gather feedback," he said.

The minister has led business delegations to China and Indonesia, which included small and medium-sized firms as well as big business. He has also visited Poland, Brussels, Germany and France with prime minister Rumen Radev. Pulev said the message to European capitals is that Bulgaria must not stay on the edge of the EU, but take an active part in European decisions.

As caretaker minister of innovation in Galab Donev's cabinet, Pulev created the first programme of its kind to back investment in industrial zones with EU money. One of the economic zones in Sliven has received funding under it.

The Bulgarian Development Bank is working on new financing tools for small and medium-sized firms, including farming co-operatives. They are meant to put Bulgarian and imported goods on equal terms in retail chains. Another option comes from the Fund of Funds, which has a regional development fund with money for southern Bulgaria. The money is for energy efficiency and for health, social and cultural infrastructure, either on its own or together with municipal and state projects.

Pulev believes the short-term effects of geopolitical shocks, such as pressure on prices and inflation, will fade sooner or later. In the long term, value-added chains and transport and logistics links are being rearranged.

The minister said the war in Ukraine has blocked the so-called Northern Corridor, and a large share of goods is being rerouted to the Trans-Caspian (Middle) Corridor. That adds to the load on Kapitan Andreevo. Traffic there sometimes exceeds that at the border crossing between Tijuana and the US.

"The future is now. Let's start an even more intensive dialogue from today," Pulev called on business representatives.

The minister is due to travel to Washington, where the defence industry will be the topic.