In order to achieve a higher economic growth and promote competitiveness, the Eastern European countries should adopt a common approach to attract more investments. This is what President Rosen Plevneliev said at the top-level meeting “Reinvigorating Growth, Competitiveness and Investments” in Budapest. The event is taking place within the EBRD conference “Reinvigorating Growth, Competitiveness and Investments - the EU from the Baltics to the Mediterranean.”
The Head of State called on for a long-term planning of the policies whereby the EU will boost its competitiveness in the globalizing world and will address the economic crisis, political instability and social discontent. “We should encourage the trust in the EU because this is an investment in Europe’s abilities to successfully cope as a community with the challenges we are facing,” Rosen Plevneliev was adamant. The Head of State called on for pinpointing not only the difficulties, but also the successes Eastern Europe has achieved in the process of European integration and highlighted the bank and financial stability achieved and the growth of the Bulgarian GDP in the past 15 years.
In the President’s view, the world and Europe are in a process of transformation and the creation of successful economic models in the future will depend on the countries’ and regional communities’ abilities to adapt and develop the industries of the future and innovations. “The lesson I have drawn from the current economic crisis is that what matters is quality not quantity. An adequate response to the economic crisis boils down to increasing the quality investments in education, which will allow us to model the future by promoting the sectors that create high added value,” the Head of State further said.
The rapid development of the ICT sector in Bulgaria and Eastern Europe was highlighted by President Rosen Plevneliev as a successful example of the ability to create high-paid jobs and attract new investments. The ICT sector in Bulgaria achieves an average annual growth worth ten percent and the number of employed in the sector grows by five percent a year.
The EBRD forum in Budapest was attended by Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban, the vice president of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis, the president of EBRD Sir Suma Chakrabarti.