Discussion at the National Assembly on the policies for the development of the backward regions

The imbalance in the development between the different countries and regions has several levels, the European one – between Bulgaria and the developed EU countries, and another one within our country. This stated the President of the National Assembly Mihail Mikov during a discussion in Parliament entitled “Policies for the development of the backward regions” with the participation of the President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Mr. Henri Malosse.

The forum was attended by MPs from Bulgaria, Greece and Romania, representatives of the executive power, local government, employers’ organisations, members of the Economic and Social Committee, and the unions. Among the participants was the President of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Tsvetan Simeonov, and Lachezar Iskrov, Member of the Executive Council of the BCCI.

The President of the National Assembly noted that in the Southwestern region of Bulgaria the Gross Domestic Product per capita, purchasing power parity, is about 2.6 times higher than in the Northwest region. The other levels are the intraregional imbalances between districts and municipalities across the regions, such as those between Sofia, the six big cities and the rest of the country.

EESC President Henri Malosse noted that the problem of the imbalances was not unusual to Bulgaria, and he recommended exchanging experience with the neighboring countries and developing the cross-border cooperation. In his opinion, the backward regions in Bulgaria need better infrastructure, developed education and established technical and production skills, for which different European models have been proved, and should be adapted to and implemented in our country as well.