Tailor-made solutions for locating your project, business or research activities in Sofia
Information and analyses relevant to establishing business activities in Sofia, including strategic
strengths, business climate, investment incentives, business costs and location factors such as
distribution, work environment and human resources
A comprehensive opportunity and benchmarking service. Quality-cost matrix compares Sofia with
other locations in the region.
Facilitating contacts and networks with potential partners, public authorities, research and
educational institutions.
Practical assistance in setting up a base in Sofia.
Aftercare programme to grow your business once you are here.
As the regional ICT center, Sofia is home to over 50 000 IT professionals.
The city has attracted global IT R&D leaders like SAP Labs, HP, VMware, IBM, CISCO that already operate large R&D centers in Sofia employing, educating and developing thousands of highly qualified professionals.
The city has been gaining popularity as a start-up destination with a developing start-up ecosystem.
Sofia has already proven itself as an attractive global BPO center, with professionals working in more than 30 different languages.
The city’s new focus, however, is to shift to smart-sourcing, building on its highly skilled and competitively priced talent pool - over 50% of the city’ population holds a university degree - that can offer attention on innovation and excellence.
Sofia has great manufacturing traditions and the main focus of the capital is the establishment of high-value added productions and the introduction of cyber-physical systems, automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies.
The competitive real estate, energy and labor costs, as well as business-friendly tax frame and large labor pool, make greenfield development an attractive option.
Many Bulgarian producers are looking for partnerships with foreign companies and offering the advantages of market knowledge and established logistics networks.
The life sciences industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of the Bulgarian economy.
Bulgarian pharmaceuticals have strong traditions in the production of generics and, more recently, the clinical trials sector has grown into a 400 million leva per year industry.
Favourable cost base, competent medical personnel and developed mechanisms for technology transfer and know-how sharing are the factors contributing to the further growth in the sector.
The high level of digital skills and the developing start-up ecosystem make Sofia an interesting place for medical tech start-ups and bio/pharmaceutical R&D.
The focus on life sciences innovation will only increase in the coming years due to the demographic and economic circumstances in Europe.
Sofia is one of the greenest capitals in Europe - the ratio of trees to people is one of the highest on the continent.
The city has an extensive public transit system and is surprisingly compact for its population of 1.3 million people.
After a period of intensive infrastructure development that included the construction of 61 km of metro line by early 2020 to serve 500 000 passengers daily, the focus has now shifted to implementing comprehensive urban environment solutions. These should solve specific urban issues like air pollution, energy efficiency and water & waste management.
Sofia is 2nd in Europe in growth of international visitors for 2017 – 15.2%. Sofia is also among the TOP 5 cities in Europe with the highest overall growth of international visitors for 2009 – 2017, with an average increase of 9% per year. The strong upward trend continues with several new airlines announcing direct flights to destinations in Europe and beyond.
Many new cultural attractions, vibrant street life in summer and rich festival and event calendar year long make Sofia an increasingly recognizable tourist destination.
Major international hotel chains are due to enter the Sofia market in 2019 doubling the number of 5-star rooms in the city.
NDK - the biggest convention center in the city, has undergone a major renovation in preparation for the Bulgaria’s EU Presidency in 2018.
Sofia is the Bulgarian national center of cultural and creative industries: 3/4 of the Bulgarian CCI workforce is located here.
About 5% of all people employed in Sofia are working in the creative sector that includes, among others, advertising, architecture, crafts, design, film, interactive leisure software i.e. video games.
With high-level of digital penetration, Sofia is a great place for R&D in the area of smart city solutions. Those are solutions that improve the quality of life of the citizens by enabling the city to use technology, information and big data to improve planning, infrastructure and services in all areas.
The areas of development are e-governance and citizen services, urban mobility, energy, waste & water management.
With 406 660 m² of shopping centers, Sofia is a mature retail market that is expected to grow steadily over the next several years.
Two trends to keep in mind are the increasing share of non-grocery retailing and the growth of e-commerce. Close to 90% of the purchases were made from Bulgaria-based online sellers and over 70% of the orders were in the Fashion segment. Тhe e-commerce market is projected to grow to 3.4 million users by 2021.
The absence of major e-commerce players like Amazon combined with high digital penetration and well-formed e-commerce habits makes Sofia a good test market for new business models, while the low use of e-banking services and Cash On Delivery payments may pose a threat to the sector’s growth.
Striving to become the regional ICT center, Sofia is home to over 50 000 IT professionals and boasts one of the highest average internet connection speeds in Europe.
The city has attracted global IT R&D leaders like SAP Labs, HP, VMware, IBM, CISCO that already operate large R&D centers in Sofia employing, educating and developing thousands of highly qualified professionals.
The city has been gaining popularity as a start-up destination with a developing start-up ecosystem.
Sofia has already proven itself as an attractive global BPO center, with professionals working in more than 30 different languages.
The city’s new focus, however, is to shift to smart-sourcing, building on its highly skilled and competitively priced talent pool - over 50% of the city’ population holds a university degree - that can offer attention on innovation and excellence.
Sofia has great manufacturing traditions and the main focus of the capital is the establishment of high-value added productions and the introduction of cyber-physical systems, automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies.
The competitive real estate, energy and labor costs, as well as business-friendly tax frame and large labor pool, make greenfield development an attractive option.
Many Bulgarian producers are looking for partnerships with foreign companies and offering the advantages of market knowledge and established logistics networks.
The life sciences industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of the Bulgarian economy.
Bulgarian pharmaceuticals have strong traditions in the production of generics and, more recently, the clinical trials sector has grown into a 400 million leva per year industry.
Favourable cost base, competent medical personnel and developed mechanisms for technology transfer and know-how sharing are the factors contributing to the further growth in the sector.
The high level of digital skills and the developing start-up eco system make Sofia an interesting place for medical tech start-ups and bio/pharmaceutical R&D.
The focus on life sciences innovation will only increase in the coming years due to the demographic and economic circumstances in Europe.
Sofia is one of the greenest capitals in Europe- the ratio of trees to people is one of the highest on the continent.
The city has an extensive public transit system and is surprisingly compact for its population of 1.3 million people.
After a period of intensive infrastructure development that included the construction of 61 km of metro line to serve 500 000 passengers daily, the focus has now shifted to implementing comprehensive urban environment solutions to answer specific urban issues like air pollution, energy efficiency and water & waste management.
The number of visitors to Sofia grew by 15% in 2017, continuing a strong upward trend with several new airlines announcing direct flights to destinations in Europe and beyond.
The many new cultural attractions, vibrant street life in the summer and rich festival and event calendar year long make Sofia an increasingly recognizable tourist destination.
Major international hotel chains are due to enter the Sofia market in 2019 doubling the number of 5-star rooms in the city.
NDK, the biggest convention center in the city, underwent a major renovation for Bulgaria’s EU Presidency in 2018.
Sofia is the Bulgarian national center of cultural and creative industries: 75% of the Bulgarian CCI workforce is located here.
About 7% of all people employed in Sofia are working in the creative sector that includes, among others, advertising, architecture, crafts, design, film, interactive leisure software i.e. video games.
With high-level of digital penetration, Sofia is a great place for R&D in the area of smart city solutions. Those are solutions that improve the quality of life of the citizens by enabling the city to use technology, information and big data to improve planning, infrastructure and services in all areas.
The areas of development are e-governance and citizen services, urban mobility, energy, waste & water management.
With 406 660 m² of shopping centers, Sofia is a mature retail market that is expected to grow steadily over the next several years.
Two trends to keep in mind are the increasing share of non-grocery retailing and the growth of e-commerce.
In 2015, 25% of the population of Southwestern Bulgaria (a region that includes Sofia) made an online purchase. This amounts to nearly half a million people.
Close to 90% of the purchases were made from Bulgaria-based online sellers and over 70% of the orders were in the Fashion segment.
With 70% of Bulgarians expected to have internet access by 2019, the e-commerce market is projected to grow to 3.4 million users by 2021.
The absence of major e-commerce players like Amazon from the market combined with high digital penetration and well-formed e-commerce habits, together with the expectation of same or next day delivery, makes Sofia a good test market for new business models, while the low use of e-banking services and Cash On Delivery payments (60-70% of transactions in 2015) may pose a threat to the sector’s growth.
Career Hive is dedicated to professional development and guidance. The event meets progressive thinking businesses and top talented professionals with study and work abroad experience. The hive aims to improve the exchange of information in the career ecosystem.
More
Event Details
Career Hive is dedicated to professional development and guidance. The event meets progressive thinking businesses and top talented professionals with study and work abroad experience. The hive aims to improve the exchange of information in the career ecosystem.
More about the event: www.karierenkosher.bg
IoT Bulgaria Summit 2019 is a community event that will take place on Saturday, September 14, 2019 for the fourth time in Bulgaria.
It is one day event focused only on
Event Details
IoT Bulgaria Summit 2019 is a community event that will take place on Saturday, September 14, 2019 for the fourth time in Bulgaria.
It is one day event focused only on Internet of Things. The conference will be hosted at the Microsoft Innovation Center.
The conference SECURIT: InfoSec & Data Storage gathers IT managers and experts from all segments of the economy: Directors and Managers "Information Security"; Managers of Risk Management; Infrastructure managers;
Event Details
The conference SECURIT: InfoSec & Data Storage gathers IT managers and experts from all segments of the economy: Directors and Managers “Information Security”; Managers of Risk Management; Infrastructure managers; System architects; Security engineers; IT managers; IT auditors; Information security auditors; Consultants.
This is the 18th edition of the event, organised by ICT Media and ISACA Sofia Chapter.
Time
(Thursday) 0:00 - 0:00
Location
Sofia Tech Park, JA Startup Hambar
Sofia Tech Park JSC 111, Tsarigradsko Shose Blvd., Sofia
Prescriptia and the Bulgarian Association for Personalized Medicine (BAPEMED) organise for a second consecutive year the high-profile event Biotech Atelier. The event will bring together leading international
Event Details
Prescriptia and the Bulgarian Association for Personalized Medicine (BAPEMED) organise for a second consecutive year the high-profile event Biotech Atelier. The event will bring together leading international experts, entrepreneurs, business leaders, visionaries, and investors in the field of value-based healthcare, intellectual property, biotech entrepreneurship, business leadership and many more.
Sofia Investment Agency is pleased to announce that CEO Mr. Vladimir Danailov was invited to speak at BIOTECH ATELIER. Mr Danailov will join the panel discussion “Access to Funding for Startups and Mature BioTech Companies in Bulgaria”.
Each panel of Biotech Atelier 2.0 will be organized as an open discussion between the audience and several speakers on the stage on topics such as Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs), AI in Medicine, Biobanking, Personalized Medicine, Active Patient Involvement, Funding Opportunities, IT and Life Sciences, Gene Therapies and implementation in difficult markets and much more. In addition to the main event, this year there will also be training & workshop pre-event, focused on ‘Intellectual Property&Technology Transfer’. The pre-event is a result of a collaboration between Biotech Atelier, the British Embassy in Sofia and the UK Science&Innovation Network in Bulgaria. It will be held on Tuesday, 24 September 2019.
The 8th edition of the only b2b print and advertising industry exhibition in Bulgaria COPIS will take place from 25 to 27 of September 2019 in Inter Expo Center, Sofia, Bulgaria.
COPIS brings
Event Details
The 8th edition of the only b2b print and advertising industry exhibition in Bulgaria COPIS will take place from 25 to 27 of September 2019 in Inter Expo Center, Sofia, Bulgaria.
COPIS brings together professionals in production and marketing of printed, illuminated, outdoor and souvenir advertising from the SEE region.
The latest trends, news and technologies in the following categories will be presented: Graphic design, Advertising Space Design, Digital printing (wide and narrow format), Printing and Publishing Houses, Printing materials and consumables, Print and business management software, Full range of Advertising services, Advertising Photography, Visual Communications, Sign Making, P.O.S. Displays, Innovative arts, Promotional souvenirs and gifts, Office supplies and gadgets, Advertising textile, Textile print and garment decorations.
Together with COPIS the 2nd edition of the International Exhibition for Textile Industry TMT EXPO will take place.
The Commercial Department at the Austrian Embassy in Sofia, supported by the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Economy, organizes a Bulgarian-Austrian Industrial Day for companies looking for partnerships
Event Details
The Commercial Department at the Austrian Embassy in Sofia, supported by the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Economy, organizes a Bulgarian-Austrian Industrial Day for companies looking for partnerships in the Security and Cybersecurity sectors.
An Austrian delegation of 11 companies will visit Bulgaria and present their products and know-how. You can find the list of the Austrian companies here.
Bulgarian partners will be able to meet with the Austrian companies on September 25, at 14.00 at the Military Club in Sofia.
For further information, please contact Ms. Pavlina Hristova: 02/452 29 60 / email sofia@advantageaustria.org.
Arena of Beauty is a hairdressing, cosmetics, manicure, pedicure, SPA and wellness exhibition and one of the largest events in the beauty and health sector in
Event Details
Arena of Beauty is a hairdressing, cosmetics, manicure, pedicure, SPA and wellness exhibition and one of the largest events in the beauty and health sector in Bulgaria. The event gathers professionals from all branches of the beauty industry – cosmetologists, dermatologists, hair stylists, manicurists and pedicurists, plastic surgeons, salon managers and many more.
