site.btaBulgaria Ranked Among Europe's Least Competitive Countries in World Competitiveness Yearbook 2015

Bulgaria Ranked Among Europe's Least Competitive Countries in World Competitiveness  Yearbook 2015

Sofia, May 27 (BTA) - The profile of Bulgaria's competitiveness
shows that the main indicators have not undergone significant
changes compared not only to 2014 but also to the levels of
2010, the Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD) said in a
press release Wednesday. The CSD presented Bulgaria's results in
the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2015 of the International
Institute for Management Development in Switzerland.

The World Competitiveness Yearbook 2015 ranks Bulgaria in 55th
place out of 61 economies, while last year the country was 56th.
Bulgaria remains among Europe's least competitive countries,
with only Croatia and Ukraine having lower indicators, the CSD
said.

Bulgaria achieved its best position in this ranking - 38th place
- in 2009, which shows that the Bulgarian government and
business leaders have still not managed to define and conduct
consistent policies conformable to the national interests, needs
and the regions' competitive advantages, and based on a
long-term competitiveness development strategy, the CSD went on
to say.

Bulgarian economy's main advantages remain related to the low
prices, which makes this country vulnerable to changes in the
international conjuncture.

The banking crisis of 2014 and the high state expenditures
affect and weaken Bulgaria's specific position, the CSD
commented. At the same time, the unemployment level remains
high, regardless of its slight decrease. The long-term
competitiveness factors (environmental protection, education,
infrastructure and healthcare) and the indicators of business
efficiency (productivity and quality of management practices)
are among the lowest rated and continue to be a serious
challenge.

Bulgaria's competitiveness is in stagnation and in the first
eight years of its EU membership this country has not managed to
reduce the distance to the other East European states, the CSD
concluded. The main challenges facing Bulgaria in 2015 remain
the optimization of the public administration's work, the
handling of energy poverty and the fight against corruption. The
factors improving Bulgaria's overall competitiveness include
the increase of the business' expenditures on science and
innovations.