The majority of the German companies in Bulgaria, 57 per cent, plan to expand their investments and to open new work places in the country, research of the German-Bulgarian Industrial-Commercial Chamber on the business climate in 2007 showed.

An even greater number, 77 per cent, expected their turnover to increase, investor.bg said.

German investments in Bulgaria exceeded 1.03 billion euro since 1996. In 2006, German companies invested 138.6 million euro in the country.Germany ranks sixth among the biggest foreign investors in the country.

The biggest German companies on the Bulgarian market were Аllianz, METRO Group, Heidelberger Cement, E.oN, Liebherr, Siemens, Kaufland, Festo, Willi Betz and Lindner International, investor.bg said.

In 2006, Bulgarian-German goods exchange was 11.3 per cent of the total goods exchange of Bulgaria, worth 3.44 billion leva and with an annual increase of 23.8 per cent.

Goods exchange between Bulgaria and Germany for the first seven months of 2007 exceeded 3.04 billion euro, and was 30.4 per cent more that the same period in 2006.

Nearly 530 000 German tourists went on holiday in Bulgaria in 2006, investor.bg said. Between January and September 2007 the number of German tourists reached 562 000, a 12 per cent increase on the year.