President Bashar al-Assad has received an invitation from Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov , to visit Bulgaria and the President has promised to visit Bulgaria as soon as possible.
The invitation was conveyed to the president by Bulgarian Foreign Minister , Ivailo Kalfin on Wednesday.
Talks during the meeting dealt with bilateral relations between the two friendly countries and prospects of boosting them on the political , economic and cultural levels , and with the role of the communities in both countries in strengthening the ties of friendship that gather the Syrian and Bulgarian peoples.
Minister Kalfin expressed his country's support and expectation to see the Syrian-European Association Agreement singed soonest possible.
The president during the meeting reviewed Syria's view point regarding the developments in the region , and ways to get out of the crises from which the region is suffering .
The Bulgarian minister expressed his country's appreciation of the Syrian efforts and positive role in the Middle East region , and support to the indirect talks between Syria and Israel and to the achievement of peace in the region.
The necessity for increasing the European contribution to finding solutions to the problems of the region was stressed , because leaving these problems unsolved , left negative effects not only on the countries in the region but on Europe and on the world as a whole.
In this regard, Vice-President Farouk al-Shara met the Bulgarian Minister and the accompanying delegation on bilateral relations and the latest developments in the region.
Speaker of the People's Assembly Mahmoud al-Abrash also discussed in a separate meeting with Minister Kalfin means of developing and activating parliamentary ties between the two friendly countries.
Later, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem held talks with his Bulgarian counterpart Ivailo Kalfin in another meeting.
Following the meeting, the two Ministers signed a Memo of Understanding on finding a mechanism for political consultations between the two Foreign Ministries and on the executive program for the Cultural agreement between the two countries between 2009-2011.
In a statement following the meeting, Minister al-Moallem expressed hope the two agreements will be a beginning for future cooperation, pointing out to the common desire to revive historic and friendly relations to build genuine partnership in the political and economic ties.
"President al-Assad's visit to Bulgaria, expected next year, will be a crowning for the two countries' efforts to build a partnership," al-Moallem said, stressing Syria's commitment to the political coordination with Bulgaria.
Minister al-Moallem went on to say that Bulgaria's membership in the EU and its understanding of the regional issues will contribute to pushing the EU to assume a greater role in solving issues of the region.
For his part, Minister Kalfin expressed his country's appreciation of Syria's positive role in the region.
He said "there is a new cooperation mechanism between Syria and the EU represented by "the Union for the Mediterranean", expressing optimism the EU will take new steps in the near future to cooperate with Syria and other countries in the region.
"The friendly ties between the two countries are historic and they were enhanced by the signing of the two agreements in the political and cultural fields, Kalfin said, adding "opening the Bulgarian Cultural Center in Damascus will lead to boosting cultural ties between the two countries."
Economic ties between Syria and Bulgaria are witnessing big development. Trade volume between the two countries reached at $ 55 millions in 2007.