Bulgaria breaks through to sign Great Wall joint venture

SOFIA // The beleaguered Bulgarian economy has received some much-needed good news with Great Wall Motor Company, one the biggest Chinese car makers, signing a joint venture deal with Litex Commerce. Great Wall will be investing in a car factory in the eastern European country with plans to assemble four different vehicles under the Great Wall badge - an SUV, a pickup and two passenger cars - by 2011. The deal is seen as an economic coup for Bulgaria and will be the country's first car manufacturing plant. Since the fall of communism, Bulgaria had fallen behind its neighbours - the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania - in this sector, largely because of a lack of history in car making, as well as relative poverty and a small domestic market. But low labour costs, EU membership and low corporate tax have all made the country very attractive to Great Wall. The deal's initial worth is €80 million (Dh420 million).