The Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency and the Innovation Agency of Norway will implement a project to support innovation and technological development of business in our country
Bulgaria and Norway can cooperate in the field of green innovations. The government supports Bulgaria’s transition to a circular economy through various projects and tools that aim to encourage businesses to be more sustainable and green. This was stated by the Minister of Innovation and Growth, Milena Stoycheva, at a meeting with the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway in Bucharest, H.E. Siri Barry and the CEO of Norway’s State Innovation Agency Innovation Norway Håkon Haugli. The executive director of the Bulgarian Investment Agency, Hristo Etropolski, representatives of The Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency, as well as experts from the Ministry and Innovation Norway participated in the meeting.
Minister Stoycheva emphasized that the vision of the government and the Ministry of Innovation and Growth is to rebrand Bulgaria as a place where investors see potential for the development of their business and where, through innovation, products and services with high added value for the economy are created. “Education and research and development have a huge role to play in the development of innovation. On their basis, Bulgaria and Europe can advance in the creation of deep innovations and increase the competitiveness of the entire region,” said Stoycheva.
- E. Siri Barry stated that one of Norway’s main priorities is the green transition. Minister Stoycheva emphasized that, under the Ministry of Innovation and Growth, there is currently an open procedure from the Recovery and resilience plan for Bulgaria for Bulgarian business, under which companies can apply for financing to make their productions more ecological.
The executive director of “Innovation Norway” said that Bulgaria and Norway can exchange experience and good practices in the areas of investments in deep technologies, startups and the entrepreneurial ecosystem, space, defense, electronics and the automotive sector.
Hristo Etropolski presented the work of the agency and emphasized that the automotive sector in our country is very well developed and represents 14% of Bulgaria’s GDP. “We are also working on a number of projects related to investments in green production”, Etropolski said. He recalled that in April of this year Bulgaria joined the European Battery Alliance through the Agency.
The Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency and Innovation Norway will implement a joint project until April 2025 to support innovation and technological development of enterprises in our country, to promote the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises, and to contribute to the strengthening of the capacity of the Agency and other competent authorities. The project is within the framework of the Fund for Bilateral Relations, part of the Financial Mechanisms of the European Economic Area.
