site.btaInnovation Minister, EC Director General for Research and Innovation Discuss Connecting Europe's Innovation Valleys

Innovation and Growth Minister Milena Stoycheva and European Commission's Director General for Research and Innovation Marc Lemaitre discussed the development of innovation in Europe at a meeting in Brussels on Friday, Stoycheva's ministry said. The two discussed the role of the entrepreneurial and start-up ecosystem in each member state in boosting EU competitiveness, the need to encourage investment in high technology and research and the commercialization of research.

"We are contributing to increasing Europe's competitiveness by creating a network of innovation valleys to link the innovation activities of member states and to develop the region's opportunities in a common agenda," Stoycheva said during the meeting.

She said the first regional innovation valley for bioeconomy and food in Bulgaria is due to open next week, and the country also has a deep-tech port.

The two officials discussed the hydrogen valley project in Stara Zagora.

"In addition to a vision for the development of innovation in Bulgaria and Europe, we also have financial instruments to stimulate its advancement and deployment in business," Stoycheva said. They discussed the opportunities for business and academia under the two EU programmes that the Innovation Ministry manages - "Competitiveness and Innovation in Enterprises" and "Research, Innovation and Digitalisation for Smart Transformation", and the funding from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

Stoycheva noted that the innovation climate in Bulgaria is good, and that the country is a good place for the testing of technologies, because it has infrastructure and a well-developed entrepreneur and start-up ecosystem. According to her, protecting start-up companies in Europe is of key importance for the Union. 

She briefed Lemaitre on the work of her Ministry on the drafting of a improving the legal framework to promote research and innovation by drafting a new Research and Innovation Act, jointly with the Education Ministry.