site.btaEU Innovation Programmes and Growth Opportunities Discussed at Forum in Sofia

Europe has all the prerequisites to remain a global leader in innovation, but the EU's single market must function as a truly unified market and barriers to business growth must be removed so that companies can scale rapidly and become global players from Europe, European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation Ekaterina Zaharieva said on Friday during a discussion on the final day of Green Transition Forum 6.0 in Sofia.

"Our real challenge is whether we can turn the outstanding companies we already have into global scale-ups and world leaders," Zaharieva said. According to her, the issue is not whether Europe can innovate, but whether it can do so quickly enough.

She highlighted several of Europe's strengths in the field of innovation. In her words, the continent has a strong industrial base and remains a global leader in precision manufacturing. Europe also creates more start-ups each year than any other region and is home to entrepreneurs capable of transforming ideas into innovation while taking calculated risks.

Zaharieva argued that Europe has the world's leading fintech researchers and stressed that innovation, start-ups and scale-ups cannot exist without strong fundamental science. She added that Europe still benefits from a solid industrial foundation, major corporations, customers and significant financial resources.

"We are sitting on trillions. We simply are not making that capital work hard enough or investing enough of it in our own innovations," she said.

Deputy Innovation and Digital Transformation Minister Atanas Maznev said the newly established Ministry of Innovation and Digital Transformation would work to implement and further develop European Commission initiatives in the fields of digitalization, digital transformation and innovation.

European Innovation Fund Chief Executive Officer Marjut Falkstedt encouraged Bulgarian companies and institutions to think on a larger scale and not view Bulgaria as a small market. She also called on institutional investors not to miss the opportunity to invest in European innovations and companies with global growth potential.

Falkstedt urged both businesses and policymakers in Bulgaria to pursue ambitious growth strategies and avoid limiting their outlook. She also encouraged institutional investors to seek stakes in emerging European companies that could become future global leaders.

"Think big and do not miss opportunities," she said.

Green Transition Forum 6.0 is organised by Dir.bg in partnership with the Bulgarian-Greek Chamber of Commerce and Industry. BTA is among the forum's media partners.