site.btaAmCham-Organized Regional Forum Discusses Innovation

June 20 (BTA) - Digital infrastructure projects in
Southeastern Europe will be possible to finance under EU
programmes after 2020, Bulgaria's Transport, Information
Technology and Communications Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov said at
 the InnoStart Forum 2019, a regional innovation conference in
Sofia, as quoted by his ministry on Thursday.

The event was organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in
Bulgaria (AmCham Bulgaria) and the Israel-America Chamber of
Commerce with the support of the Embassy of the United States
and the Embassy of Israel in Sofia.

Under the motto "Shaping the Innovation Ecosystems," the
InnoStart Forum gathered high-level government officials and
international businesses from Israel, the US and the region to
explore best practices for building a sustainable startup
ecosystem and innovation community. Venture and corporate
representatives, investors, entrepreneurs, select startups,
universities and governments shared thought-leadership to thrive
 on the global stage.

Speakers included Serbia's Minister without Portfolio
responsible for Innovation and Technological Development, Nenad
Popovic, North Macedonia's Information Society and
Administration Minister Damjan Mancevski, US Embassy Deputy
Chief of Mission Justin Friedman, Israeli Ambassador Irit
Lillian, EU Digital Economy and Society Commissioner Mariya
Gabriel, and the World Economic Forum's Digital Europe Project
Leader Julie Ziskind, among many others.

In the sidelines of the forum, Zhelyazkov had separate meetings
with ministers Popovic and Mancevski. They reviewed the
implementation of bilateral memoranda on reducing international
roaming charges. The ministers expressed their shared
expectation that this process, which started during the
Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council in the first half of
2018, will lead to considerably lower charges. RY/VE