Ms Daniela Mineva, Research Fellow to the Economic Program at the Center for the Study of Democracy presented the main results and conclusions of the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2012. In the overall ranking, the country takes 54^th place, while in the region of Europe, Middle East and Africa, Bulgaria ranks 34^th among 37 economies. On the one hand, Bulgaria has increased its performance in the areas of public finance, fiscal policy and international trade. On the other hand, however, the country’s competitiveness profile continues to be characterized by notable disparities and lack of harmonization between the various indicators.

 
Mr. Ruslan Stefanov, Director of the Economic Program at the Center for the Study of Democracy, identified five key challenges facing the Bulgarian competitiveness, including:

Raising the professional qualification with a strong focus on long-term unemployed and youth unemployment;

Curbing corruption and tax evasion;

Reducing bureaucracy and promoting quality of administrative services, including the development of comprehensive e-government;

Creating an adequate framework for science, technology and innovation activity – most notably a transition from price competitiveness to innovation competitiveness;

Diversifying gas supply, improving energy grids and energy efficiency, as well as adequately regulating the development renewable energy sources (RES) in the country.

Photo Gallery

Media Advisory (Adobe PDF, 176 KB, in Bulgarian)

Presentation: Bulgaria’s International Competitiveness 2012: State and Perspectives (Adobe PDF, 648 KB, in Bulgarian)
CSD Brief No 34: The Bulgarian Economy: Competitiveness 2012
Media Coverage (in Bulgarian)