The Applied Research and Communications Fund, ARC Consulting and Enterprise Europe Network – Bulgaria awarded the “Excellence in Innovations” label which is given to innovation enterprises’ nominees in the National Innovation Forum in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

The event that took place for the first time was under the auspices of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria Mr. Rumen Radev and was held in the building of the Presidency on 8 February 2019.

Dr. Ognian Shentov, Chairman of the Applied Research and Communications Fund, stated that the innovations in the business sector are an important driver of economic growth. At the same time, Bulgarian private companies invest twice as much in innovations in comparison to the public sector. Dr. Shentov highlighted also the importance of the innovation enterprises and their socio-economic contribution for the country.

Mr. Georgi Kadrev, Executive Director and co-founder of “Imagga Technologies” Ltd., outlined Bulgaria’s relatively good standing in Europe and the world in terms of levels of innovations’ development and implementation given country’s economy and size. He expressed his confidence that the innovation process in Bulgaria will speed up.

Mr. Rosen Varbanov, Executive Director of “Sirma Medical Systems” AG, stressed that despite Bulgaria’s leading position in high speed internet the country is a laggard in terms of households’ access to this service. Mr. Varbanov, pointed out the levels of innovations’s implementation as a decisive factor for the place of the country in Europe and the world.

Mr. Dorbin Mirevsky, Manager of “ConnectedBin” Ltd., highlighted the actual existence of innovation start-ups’ eco-system in Bulgaria. At the same time, he outlined one of its major deficiencies – the lack of strong ties between the separate innovation ‘islands’. Mr. Mirevsky was optimistic that the current as well as similar initiatives are helping to establish, broaden and strengthen those ties.

The President of the Republic of Bulgaria, Mr. Rumen Radev stressed the role of the state which has to acknowledge the work of these companies which stimulate Bulgarian innovators. The head of state underlined the innovations as a reflection of the national ambitions for the future, the effective cooperation between the public administration, business, science and education in each country.

Among the serious challenges before Bulgarian innovations the President outlined the expenditures for research and development which are lagging behind the average European levels of 1.5% of GDP.

Mr. Radev thanked the organisers and the jury for the promotion of Bulgarian business investement activities because the innovations are the most effective mechanism to achieve high and sustainable economic growth in the contemporary world.