Fespa's policy dictates that every new member must serve two years as an associate member before their membership can be put to a vote by all Fespa's delegates to decide if they will be granted full membership privileges, including the ability to vote on issues such as the allocation of Fespa resources.

Nigel Steffens, chief executive of Fespa, said the vote to admit BACGP as a full member had been "unanimous", adding that they had been an "exemplary associate member, driving best practice and sharing knowledge among screen printers across Bulgaria".

Fespa consists of 27 European member associations and a further 10 across the world, representing a community of more than 200,000 screen and wide-format printers.

Anka Bimbalova, president of the BACGP, said:  "We have worked hard to promote the print industry in Bulgaria over the past two years of our membership, so we were overwhelmed to be voted in as full members by all my FESPA colleagues.

"The main aim of our organisation is to promote printers and print in our country and improve the business climate for the industry as a whole. We will carry on delivering quality events and information, share knowledge and best practice so BACGP and FESPA can continue to grow and prosper.

"As Turkey’s neighbour country, we also look forward to meeting and doing business with friends and colleagues at FESPA Eurasia this week as this is an important market for Bulgaria."