The state mustn’t interfere so rude in the business with information and communication technologies, but should get seriously involved in the production of enough talents. That was stated by Mr. Georgi Brashnarov, chair of the Bulgarian Software Companies Association during the 3^rd annual Bulgarian ICT Watch roundtable. Bulgaria is ranked 2^nd in Europe and 5^th in the world as a most attractive outsourcing destination. Such data proves the great potential of the IT sector here. However, the good rating of this country is due to the paradox that business here is developed despite the state.

“We have proven that we can make it on our own and Bulgarian software engineers are well-known across the globe,” Georgi Brashnarov goes on to say. Currently Bulgaria is well recognized and there is not a single major foreign company without Bulgarian IT experts. However, despite the 7,000 experts, produced each year by 15 universities, the branch complains about the lack of HR resources. The level of their skills is one of the problems, the second is the great number of emigrants. At the same time such experts are concentrated in big cities – 85 percent of them work in Sofia. Thus a certain level of unemployment is observed in towns, despite the serious lack of people. Deputy Minister of Economy Krasin Dimitrov claims that the government tries to stimulate real economic growth in the sector. International indexes rank Bulgaria after giants, such as India, Indonesia, Estonia and Singapore. The branch itself is export-oriented, but the new markets targeted are really high – the USA, China, the Scandinavian countries and Germany.

“I expect a growth of 20 – 22 percent in the sector this year,” Deputy Minister Dimitrov foresees. “The priorities of the government are related to the qualification of IT experts. This is the only sector with no unemployment and all experts are immediately swallowed by the companies.”

EUR 5 mln. were invested in the IT sector last year in 5 large-scaled projects. Investments in the sector will be many times more, Chair of the Bulgarian Investment Agency Svetoslav Mladenov promised.

“We are talking here about major US and British companies. Ukrainian and other European firms have also shown interest and are in a process of negotiations. The agency has registered incredible interest towards Bulgaria in the course of the past three months, related to the launching of outsourcing companies in the sector of services.”

Aggressive competition from the East has targeted our market due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the lack of stability for the business environment in the region.

“We are witnessing a brand new wave right now. Major companies from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus have started to arrive to Bulgaria over the past three months,” Georgi Brashnarov further says. “The IT branch is familiar with the place, Bulgarian companies have international experience and our IT experts are well-known across the globe. It is essential for these talents to be involved in major international projects, in the production of extra added value.”

English version: Zhivko Stanchev