A Chinese company is investing in the textile industry of Bulgaria. Chinese Orient International is involved in import and export and logistics. It has 100 plants of which, 50 are in China. The company owns a variety of fashion brands and has about 77,000 employees. Bulgaria's economy increased at around 0.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2018. Textile and garment is the biggest employer in Bulgarian manufacturing, employing some 1,00,000 workers.

Bulgaria is Europe's quick response solution. Bulgarian firms are rapidly developing the internal capabilities to manage all aspects of their supply chains to European partners, including sourcing, design, transport/logistics and own branding. These capabilities, combined with Bulgaria's strategically favorable location, make working with Bulgaria a critical and valuable component to a company's strategy. In short, Bulgaria is Europe's most reliable, capable and cost-effective solution for high quality, small orders that need to be there yesterday.

Union density in the Bulgarian textile industry is very low and workers are scared to join a union for fear of losing their livelihood. There is a strong need to empower workers and trade unions if a real change is to be seen in the textile and garment sector in Bulgaria.