President Plevneliev: Essential for Bulgaria to be a leader in tomorrow’s economy
Against the backdrop of rapid development in industry, Bulgaria has the opportunity to choose the path of success and to be a leader, not an observer in the new economy, President Rossen Plevneliev told a conference on October 4.
He was speaking at the annual conference of Global Entrepreneurship Monitoring Bulgaria (GEM). Since 1999, GEM has annually evaluated the activities of businesses and national characteristics in the economies of more than 1000 countries. Today GEM is the largest survey of entrepreneurship and operates with a budget of more than $9 million, a media statement said.
Entrepreneurship should be ready for profound changes in the global industry, Plevneliev said, noting the significant progress of Bulgarian start-ups in the last decade.
“Bulgarian start-up entrepreneurs already generate revenue, create thousands of jobs, enjoying confidence internationally, benefitting and promoting innovation,” Plevneliev said.
He expressed pride at the fact that in international rankings, Sofia is ranked among the 10 best cities for startups.
Plevneliev urged businesses to use the funding guaranteed by the European Union.
“Bulgaria was the first country to benefit from EU operational programs to help start-up companies at an early stage,” he said.
“We have a huge number of talented young people and funding instruments, and a large number of positive examples of proven worldwide young companies,” he said.
Plevneliev said that more than 3000 start-enterprises have the opportunity to receive funding by the end of 2020 through EU operational programs.
He voiced confidence that Bulgaria has the necessary factors to be successful in a dynamically changing business environment worldwide.
Plevneliev listed the priorities of Bulgaria through which the business environment will continue to improve. “Innovation, the dual system of education, information and ecosystems energy liberalization and diversification over the past five years have become an integral part of the agenda of the country to the benefit of both current and future successful entrepreneurs,” he said.
By 2015, the software industry in Bulgaria accounted for 1.86 per cent of gross domestic product and employed more than 17 500 professionals, he said.
“Entrepreneurship and funding in the area of newly-established enterprises in Bulgaria is successful, but our work is not over,” Plevneliev said, calling on state institutions to work for the country having the needed human resources and education in line with the requirements of successful industries.
The state should create a generation of educated and active young people and promote entrepreneurial culture, Plevneliev said.
