NEWS

Rosen Plevneliev: the Juncker Plan is a Chance for the Countries from the Whole Region of Southeastern Europe

The Investment Plan for Europe is a chance for the countries from Southeastern Europe because only if we are well-connected will we be able to attract more investments. This is what President Rosen Plevneliev said during his meeting with Yurki Katainen, vice president of the European Commission for jobs, growth, investment and competitiveness.  

Commissioner Katainen is on a visit to Bulgaria within the framework of his European tour for presenting the Investment Plan for Europe. The EU Plan on strategic investments envisages the unlocking of public and private investments in the EU’s real economy worth at least 315 billion euros for the 2015-2017 period.

“Bulgaria has the ambition to be driver of the integration processes in Southeastern Europe and to show that the European instruments work,” the Head of State emphasized and said that the Juncker Plan is a timely and strategically important initiative of the European Commission. President Rosen Plevneliev added that Bulgaria had a great potential in strategic sectors such as energy efficiency, energy diversification, public and private partnerships and the development of a start-up culture in the region. “The Balkan countries already understand that a supra-national approach should be adopted and a single country is incapable of attracting strategic investments alone. We should work together as a region,” President Plevneliev was adamant.

Vice-president Yurki Katainen briefed the Head of State on the components of the Investment Plan for Europe and emphasized that the European Commission has the ambition to unlock not only public, but also private capital in support of the SMEs in Europe, which are the backbone of the European and Bulgarian economy. The EC welcomes Bulgaria’s clear plan for conducting reforms in 2015 and will continue to encourage the work in key sectors such as the judiciary, the energy sector, education and public administration, it was further highlighted during the talks.