The first meeting of the Economic Development and Social Policy Council with President Plevneliev was held

On 3 May, the first meeting of the Economic Development and Social Policy Council with President Rosen Plevneliev was held. The theme of the meeting was “Competitiveness and investment priorities”. The participants discussed proposals to increase competitiveness and focus the economic policy on the development of leading clusters in the country.

The Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism Delyan Dobrev, Deputy Ministers, Regional Governors, representatives of the trade unions, employers’ and non-governmental organizations took part in the session of the Council.

The President of BCCI Tsvetan Simeonov also participated in the meeting and briefly presented the Chamber’s position. He said that discussions dedicated to competitiveness are always useful because they help elaborate purposive and efficient actions and policies. According to the BCCI, there is no need to reach consensus on the choice of priority sectors. The idea to promote certain sectors of economy is not an equitable solution. In this case, questions are raised as to what the attitude towards the other sectors of economy which are not considered priority would be. Instead, it is necessary to create conditions which would increase the general attractiveness for businesses.

Preserving the macroeconomic stability, improving the business climate, establishing closer relations between educational institutions and businesses, encouraging the links between various industries in Bulgaria and creating suitable conditions for their integration in technology clusters were the topics around which the participants in the first session of the Council united.