Bulgaria EU's Greatest R&D Laggard, Focus on Engineering Urged

Bulgarian PM Borisov pictured during an innovation awards ceremony in Sofia, March 2010. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria’s economy is ranking last in innovations and research and development, according to a research report of the Bulgarian Industrial Association.

The study was carried out by the BIA, one of the major employers’ organizations in Bulgaria, in cooperation with trade unions as part of a project for the development and implementation of a branch and regional information system about the workforce.

The BIA research has shown that Bulgarian companies export primarily products with low added value, invest little in new technologies and R&D, and have low dynamics when it comes to acquiring new patents.

“Bulgaria ranks last in the EU in global competitiveness. It has the smallest opportunities for creativity and innovations in terms of finding funding and fast scientific solutions, and the Bulgarian economy is among the slowest to update its technologies,” states the analysis of the Bulgarian Industrial Association.

The BIA recommends that Bulgarian should come up with a national innovations strategy, and should increase its state R&D spending to 0.8%-0.9% of the GDP by 2020, while also introducing incentives for private companies to invest in research and development activities.

The industrialists are also urging intensified emphasis on mathematics and IT in school education, including an obligatory school-ending exam in math.

It also advocates the extensive integration of IT in the teaching of engineering in Bulgarian universities as well as the creation of engineering research centers as part of each Technical University.