site.btaBulgaria Misses Many Benefits by Delaying Eurozone Membership, Experts Say at Forum in Sofia

Participants in an economic forum in Sofia, organized by the Darik Business Review website, Wednesday agreed that the Bulgaria's joining the eurozone will bring many benefits to the country, its economy and its people, and every delay of the accession comes with losses. 

Businesses in the country are aware of the benefits of euro adoption and eurozone membership. It is ready to take the necessary actions to align its activities with the new currency, Deputy Chairman and Chief Financial Officer of the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) Stanislav Popdonchev said. He noted that business readiness has been steadily increasing in recent years, which is reflected in BIA's annual surveys.

According to Popdonchev, the political discourse about the euro area is very important and how much politicians see accession as a priority.

Polina Karastoyanova, Executive Director of the National Tourism Board, said that it is important for Bulgaria as a tourist destination to become part of the currency union. She added that the tourism industry is one of the few sectors in the country that has the potential to double its size.

Tourism is a key sector for the national economy, it generates nearly 14% of the country's GDP, it is a locomotive that hitches its wagons to contractors, suppliers of goods and services, creates between 300,000 and 500,000 jobs in the active and off-season part of the year and is an export industry on the ground, Karastoyanova said.

Julieta Mandazhieva, an expert member of the Association for Innovation, Business Services and Technology (AIBEST) and a member of the Bulgarian Association of Management Companies, noted that postponing eurozone membership is a missed benefit for Bulgaria. In her words, the more Bulgaria delays and actively resists it, the more it works against the country and its interests.