site.btaAccelerated Economic Growth Needs Bold Policy Decisions - Expert

Yonko Chuklev, financier and deputy Chair of the Professional Association of Robotics, Automation and Innovations, said here on Tuesday that accelerated economic growth needs bold policy decisions. Chuklev was speaking at a discussion entitled “The Eurozone - Challenges and New Opportunities”, hosted by the Ministry of Innovation and Growth as part of the public information campaign led by the Ministry of Finance and the Bulgarian National Bank ahead of the planned euro changeover.

The expert said that economic growth of 4% would require much bolder policies. He proposed establishing an academy for Bulgarian small and medium-sized enterprises whose products and services are export-oriented. He believes that the Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency is in the perfect place to implement such a project.

Chuklev believes that Bulgaria's membership in the euro area can create incentives to invest in one-day deliveries from Bulgaria to the EU Member States of Western Europe.

Another idea is borrowed from the experience of Estonia and their Accelerate Estonia initiative. It is about providing a single point and sandbox of innovation for testing and development in the priority areas of economic specialization to prospective investors. Chuklev pointed to Sofia Tech Park as a good partner in this direction.

He called for measures and policies to develop the capital market in the country as a driver of private investment in the Bulgarian economy. Here he drew attention to the importance and role of the Fund Manager of Financial Instruments in Bulgaria and the crowdfunding platform SpaceCrowd announced by the Bulgarian Stock Exchange.

His last two ideas involve the development of a national brand that includes a report of everything produced by Bulgarian companies, and building modern campuses for students across the country in order to attracted talented young people.