SOFIA - Litex Motors Corporation, a joint venture of the Chinese private automaker Great Wall Motors, won Bulgaria's award "Investor of the Year 2012" on Tuesday in the Machine Building category.

The joint venture between GWM and its Bulgaria partner Litex Commerce opened last February an auto assembly plant near the town of Lovech in northern Bulgaria, involving an investment of $29 million.

The plant with a total value of $130 million is expected to make 50,000 vehicles annually after its final completion around 2015, according to InvestBulgaria Agency, the organizer of this event.

Ilia Terziev, CEO of Litex Motors, wanted especially to thank GWM which decided to establish this strategic partnership within Europe.

According to Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev who handed the prize to Terziev, this joint production between Bulgaria and China would surely open many new horizons for Bulgaria.

Investor of the Year award is an acknowledgment of the entrepreneurship, work, vision for long-term planning, and correct and accurate assessments of the investors, Plevneliev said earlier while opening the ceremony.

Bulgaria would continue to improve the investment climate by introducing new and more incentives, and more flexible tools, Plevneliev added.

South African ALC, Swiss Reichle and De-Massari, Japanese PENTAX, US Ingram Micro and Bulgarian companies Prestige 96, Biovet and Sofia Med also were awarded during the ceremony.

According to IBA, the prizes are bestowed to firms that have taken significant steps in their development through sustainable and effective investments, which have contributed to the development of the economy.

This year, as in previous editions of the contest, there has been a significant interest to the awards, IBA said.

Applying projects have been evaluated not only in terms of the amount of capital invested, but also by the number of jobs created. Important criteria for assessment have also been the usage of high technologies, export potential and innovation, IBA said.

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