The Ministry of Foreign Trade functions under the direction and supervision of a minister, a first deputy minister, and six deputy ministers, who are almost always high-ranking members of the BKP. The ministry itself is organized into thirteen geographic offices and seven departments. The different geographic offices handle trade agreements with the Soviet Union, other socialist countries, developed capitalist countries, Asia and Latin America, and the Arab and African countries. Other offices include foreign exchange planning and accounting, coordination, leadership and control of foreign trade organizations, currency and finance, economic planning, market conditions, planning, and personnel. There are departments for statistics, secretariat and protocol, legal and departmental arbitration, accounting and auditing, administration, labor and wages, and control inspectorate. Additionally, there are offices and sections not falling under any specific category but existing independently. They are: an office for a trade fair director general, trade representatives, a foreign trade research institute, and a state inspection on the quality of goods for export. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Relations with Communist Countries Bulgaria's foreign policy and foreign trade are circumscribed to a great extent within the alliances formed by the Soviet Union and the communist countries of Eastern Europe. In the early 1970s this tightly knit, although polycentric, group continued to expect and did receive Bulgaria's participation in preserving the status quo in Eastern Europe. As is the case with other Eastern European countries, Bulgaria wants Western technology and also would like to attract more Western tourists to increase its hard currency intake. Bulgaria's motive for attracting the West is economic rather than ideological. It is accepted within the socialist alliances that the principle of proletarian internationalism does not preclude diversity of trading partners of the individual member countries. Soviet Union Bulgarian relations with the Soviet Union have been described as subservient, and Zhivkov once acknowledged that he was "known for being bound to the Soviet Union in life and death." In 1948 Bulgaria entered into the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Aid with the Soviet Union, which was renewed for another twenty years on May 12, 1967, and over the years the close alignment between the two countries has taken on greater importance. Ideologically, it is well known that Bulgaria is a loyal partner within the Soviet-dominated socialist group. Its leaders have been schooled in Marxism-Leninism and usually look to the Soviet Union for leadership.