site.btaBulgaria Will Have Decisive Voice in Discussions about Europe's Competitiveness, Says Deputy PM Pekanov

Bulgaria will have a decisive voice in discussions about Europe's competitiveness, said Deputy Prime Minister Atanas Pekanov during the Green Transition Forum 6.0 on Thursday. The forum is organized by Dir.bg. BTA is among the media partners of the forum.

According to Pekanov, Europe is still a leading force on a global scale in some areas. As an example, he cited the pharmaceutical industry, defence, energy, and some parts of artificial intelligence. "However, in other sectors it is not doing well and we have lost our share compared to 25-30 years ago", he said. 

Pekanov believes that one way to change is to scale up. He said that Bulgaria is located in the centre of the Balkans and this is a great asset to be used in close cooperation with its neighbours to improve transport, energy and financial sectors of the country. 

According to him, energy is one of the missing pieces in Europe and energy networks need additional funding at the European level. Pekanov also believes that cohesion policy should be protected in the next European Union budget in order to have more resources for cross-border projects. 

"We need to be more innovative, more competitive, in order to ensure the prosperity of European citizens", he stated.