site.btaDeputy Ministers, Tradeunionists, Business Persons, Academics Discuss Demographic Future of Regions

Deputy ministers of Education and Science Tanya Mihaylova, of Economy and Industry and of Tourism, Nikolay Pavlov and Irena Georgieva, took part in a discussion on the demographic future of the regions, organised by the Standard newspaper on Wednesday in Etropole. Among the participants were also the local Mayor, Vladimir Alexandrov, Bulgarian football legend Hristo Stoichkov, Rector of the University of National and World Economy Dimitar Dimitrov, President of the Podkrepa trade union Dimitar Manolov, Chief Economist of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria Luboslav Kostov, representatives of the business and academic community.

A total of 694 companies in Bulgaria are conducting dual education of students with more than 1,600 mentors" Mihailova said during the discussion. She pointed out that dual education is the answer to one of the questions raised during the discussion -about the shortage of staff for business.

Mihailova pointed out that at the national level her Ministry is doing everything possible to maintain schools in areas where this is more difficult, including protected and community schools. "We provide funds for transport for students, and we invest in the qualification of teachers, the Deputy Minister said.

She stressed the great advantage of Bulgarian vocational education - it gives students the opportunity to go on to university or start work immediately after graduation.

The creation of business conditions and the successful development of an SME ecosystem at local level would help overcome regional inequalities and the demographic revitalisation of this country, Pavlov said at the forum.

"We are working to open additional opportunities for our companies to enter foreign markets," the Deputy Minister added. He stressed the need for efforts to tackle regional imbalances, as currently small and medium-sized enterprises are concentrated mainly in five regions - Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Blagoevgrad and Sofia.

Pavlov recalled that the main focus of his Ministry's policy is the construction of industrial parks and zones, which is a leading factor in attracting new investors. "In the past year, the opening of two new industrial zones was launched - in Dobroslavtsi and in Stara Zagora," the Deputy Minister added, stressing that this is another incentive to attract companies with high value-added industries in strategic regions. I 

In conclusion, the Deputy Minister said that the national industrial strategy currently being developed by the Ministry of Economy will include manufacturing and extractive industries. The main themes in the document are the reduction of the industry's carbon footprint, increasing the digitalisation of production, improving resource and energy efficiency, introducing circular production models and encouraging investor interest in the country's industrial parks.