site.btaEconomy Minister Loukarski: Sofia Tech Park Will Become Catalyst of Innovation Processes in Bulgaria

Economy Minister Loukarski: Sofia Tech Park Will Become Catalyst of Innovation Processes in Bulgaria

Sofia, December 3 (BTA) - Sofia Tech Park is one of the most ambitious projects, which will become a catalyst of innovation processes in Bulgaria, Economy Minister Bozhidar Loukarski said here on Thursday during the opening of the Innovation Exchange Forum, quoted by his Ministry's press centre. The event is organized by the British Embassy in Bulgaria and has gathered over 100 Bulgarian and 17 British companies from the IT sector.

Minister Loukarski noted that encouraging innovations is a priority of his Ministry's policies. OP Innovations and Competitiveness 2014-2020 also puts an emphasis on innovative projects. The scheme for introducing innovations is expected to be opened by this year's end with a budget of 50 million euro.

"Our policy's goal is to move from the "timid" group to the group of "moderate" innovators, which requires investing at least 1.5 per cent of GDP in research and development," the Economy Minister explained. Spending on such activities was 0.64 per cent of GDP in 2013, compared to 0.78 per cent in 2014, which is a 25.8 per cent increase.