Siemens AG plans to open a new unit in Sofia to function as a regional hub for servicing customer orders from Central and Eastern Europe. The center is scheduled to start work in the spring and the company is already recruiting a team of specialists for six different expert positions.

The hub in the capital will be responsible for accepting and executing orders from customers from all CEE countries that will forward their orders to the unit in Sofia. This aims at streamlining the order execution processes from the time of their receipt to their billing. To this end, specialists who have a good command of any of the languages in the region – Croatian, Romanian, Serbian, etc., in addition to a western language, are wanted. Experts are also expected to have experience in process administration, ERP systems, logistics, etc.

This year Siemens celebrates 140 years of presence in Bulgaria. The company has been doing business and development activities through its local Bulgarian office since 1991. In October 1998 Siemens EOOD, a full-fledged subsidiary of Siemens Group, was registered in Bulgaria. Siemens Bulgaria is active in the sectors of energy, industry, healthcare and infrastructure and cities. The company employs nearly 500 people  in Sofia and Pravets. In addition to the hub in Sofia, Siemens plans to open another hub in Varna, which will serve the automotive industry with development and implementation of automation systems.

Finnish cargo-handling machinery maker Cargotec opened its new global Cargotec Business Service (CBS) centre in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. The investment demonstrates Cargotec’s confidence in the local team of dedicated professionals and the Bulgarian talent pool to help company’s growth.

The CBS team presently consists of 130 people; however, it is expected that it would expand significantly over the coming years. The aim is to develop and deliver world-class global business support services in the fields of finance, human resources, information management, as well as indirect procurement.  

“Our investment in the modern office in the heart of Sofia is a long-term commitment with focus on continuous improvement. We plan to grow, and are in the lookout for people who are future-oriented and eager to develop their skills in a global company, and lead the way in building smarter business services,” says Maya Milanova, Head of Cargotec Business Services.

Cargotec (Nasdaq Helsinki: CGCBV) enables smarter cargo flow for a better everyday with its leading cargo handling solutions and services. Cargotec’s business areas Kalmar, Hiab and MacGregor are pioneers in their fields. Through their unique position in ports, at sea and on roads, they optimise global cargo flows and create sustainable customer value. Cargotec’s sales in 2016 totalled approximately EUR 3.5 billion and it employs over 11,000 people. www.cargotec.com

Our monthly newsletter provides information on upcoming international trade exhibitions and fairs where you can introduce your business to a professional audience and potential partners and customers. Registration for participation in such forums usually takes place weeks and months before the start of the events. The trade fairs listed below will take place in April, so you have the time necessary to prepare your application.

MachTech & InnoTech Expo,  International trade fair for machinery, technologies and industrial equipment

MachTech & InnoTech Expo is an international trade fair for machinery, technology and industrial equipment, which takes place once a year in Sofia. It is a business-to-business forum for the engineering industry in the European countries.

International exhibitors show the latest products, equipments and technologies in the fields of engineering, metal processing, surface technology, laser technology, welding, hydraulics, pneumatics, automation, robotics, electronics, electrical mobility and electrical appliances.

The eighth MachTech & InnoTech Expo takes from 26.03.2018 till 29.03.2018 in Inter Expo Center, Sofia.

www.machtech.bg

Drives and Controls, Trade fair for drive and control technology

Drives and Controls covers the very latest in mechanical power transmission, motion control and automation. It brings together key suppliers of state-of-the-art equipment covering areas such as energy efficiency, machine safety, drives, motion control and automation plus much more.

The Drives and Controls will takes from 10.04.2018 till 12.04.2018 in Birmingham.

www.drives-expo.com

Hannover Messe, trade fair for technology

The Hannover Messe is the world’s leading trade fair for technology combining leading international trade fair (Industrial Automation, MDA, Energy, Digital Factory, Comvac, Industrial Supply und Research & Technology) under one roof. The exhibition offers a unique theme and product range and reflects with the topics of these leading trade fairs, overlapping each other specifically, the entire industrial value chain ranging from individual components to intelligent factory.

The Hannover Messe will take place from 23.04.2018 till 27.04.2018 in Hanover.

www.hannovermesse.de

The analytica, trade fair for laboratory technology, analysis and biotechnology

The analytica is the leading international trade fair for laboratory technology, analysis and biotechnology, which now has satellite events in China, India and Vietnam. It takes place every two years in Munich and offers total solutions and market-ready products in the field of laboratory in industry, research and science. The analytica is considered the leading trade fair platform for innovative laboratory technology and pioneering biotechnology.

The EU Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) has opened its call for applications for hosting a session during the EUSEW Policy Conference to be held between June 5-7 in Brussels. EU Sustainable Energy Week is a popular European movement launched by the European Commission in 2005 and the Policy Conference is its most important event, dedicated to sustainable energy policy issues. Sessions organised by the European Commission and energy stakeholders debate new policy developments, best practices and sustainable energy ideas.

If your work supports an economy built on clean, secure, efficient energy, the EU Sustainable Energy Week is an opportunity for you to meet stakeholders promoting energy efficiency and renewable energies, learn about successful policies and inspire innovation to meet the EU’s energy and climate goals. If you have a great proposal for a compelling session that fits the overall theme of ‘Leading the Energy Transition’, do not miss out the opportunity to share your knowledge and gain exposure for your organisation and ideas. Deadline for applications is February 23, 2018.

Submit your proposal if you are:

Representatives of EU institutions, including inter-institutional bodies

Stakeholders which fulfil the following criteria:

• Have a mandate to work as multipliers using a widespread network of contacts in Brussels and across Europe
• Have a mandate to contribute to the development and implementation of sustainable energy policy in Europe Examples of eligible types of organisations include: International organisations, Networks of national, regional/local authorities, agencies, or other public bodies, Industry or professional associations, NGOs working in the field of sustainable development

Consumer associations/citizens’ groups Professional event organisers or businesses aiming to promote specific products or services are not eligible.

Here is the Application form and guidelines

Sessions will take place between June 5 – 7, 2018. Applicants will be invited to choose from one of the following formats: Panel discussion, Roundtable, Seminar or World Café (a conversation-based process for generating new insights to a chosen theme for approximately 20 minutes in a group of four or five participants; at the end of each discussion, individuals can switch to a new group and discuss a new question; the session closes with a plenary roundup of insights.).

Proposals for the policy sessions will be evaluated by the Selection Committee constituted by European Commission officials taking into account the following aspects: 1. Concept, focus and follow-up 2. Relevance of the topic (content) 3. Capacity to mobilise interest (promotion) 4.

Only a month after Coca-Cola announced an investment to expand its production unit near Sofia, the company also revealed its plans to open an IT development center in the capital. The center will develop data analysis and training solutions, mobile applications and software products for information security, marketing, financial and technical activities of the manufacturer. The products of the development hub in Sofia will be used globally, with a main focus on the markets in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

The other information technology development centers of Coca-Cola are based in the USA, Japan, Singapore, India and Mexico. Globally, the center in Sofia will be the second largest in terms of size and number of provided services. The company plans to recruit 130 IT specialists to develop intelligent solutions for the business and operations of Coca-Cola.

Dear partners,
We are glad to announce that TCI Network has chosen Sofia as the location and host for its annual regional conference. On behalf of the organizing team, we would like to cordially invite you to take part in the forthcoming TCI European Conference to be held 20 – 22 March 2018 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The event is hosted under the patronage of Sofia Municipality. Sofia Investment Agency (SIA) is general partner of the event.

Themed “Turning challenges into opportunities through clusters in South Eastern Europe”, the TCI European conference in Sofia will provide opportunities to engage with the full set of issues relevant for more effective cluster-based efforts, whether you are a policy maker, a manager of a cluster program, or a cluster initiative manager.

As a partner of SIA, you can get 10% discount on your registration fee for the TCI European Conference 2018. To receive your 10% off code, please follow the steps below:

– send email to tcieurope2018@veritascluster.com with subject and text SIA Partners Code
– copy the code that the TCI organizing team will send back to you as a reply to your email
– open the registration form and use the code to get your discount

Registration fees are announced here. Please note that the standard registration deadline is 19th February 2018.

The TCI European Conference 2018 will be open for TCI members as well non-members – national and international participants, involved in the development & competitiveness of regions. The organisers expect 350 to 400 delegates, mostly from Europe, where there are already delegates subscribed from Canada, New Zealand, Colombia and Mexico.

The audience:
Business leaders
Cluster managers
Policy makers
Researchers
Consultants
Universities
Regional/National Development Agencies
Economic development agencies
National ministry
Competitiveness council
Local Authorities

Themes and draft agenda could be seen on the official website, and here are some of the topics:

What has been achieved in Eastern Europe so far & what remaining challenges need to be challenged through clusters?
Where EU cluster policies need to go?
Financing instruments for clusters
Globalisation, digitalisation and sustainable development as key factors for shaping our economy growth, innovation, competitiveness and services

About TCI

TCI Network is the leading global network of main organizations and practitioners with deep expertise in clusters and competitiveness, which collaborate in a unique open, flexible and practical context to advance in the practice of competitiveness, innovation

Innovation Norway just launched the Call for Travel Support under the new Programme “Business Development, Innovation and SMEs”, Bulgaria.

Brief information about the Call

Under the framework of the Programme, Innovation Norway is releasing a Call for Travel Support with an available budget of EUR 50’000. The objective of the Travel Support is to facilitate establishment of bilateral partnerships between Norway and Bulgaria with the intent to participate in the upcoming call(s) under the Programme. Travel grants up to EUR 1’000 are available to private businesses from Bulgaria and Norway.

The applications for Travel Support are assessed and awarded by Innovation Norway on a continuous basis (until the depletion of the available budget). Only applications completed online, in English language, will be taken into consideration. The online Travel Support application form is available here.

Brief information about the Programme “Business Development, Innovation and SMEs”

“Business Development, Innovation and SMEs” Bulgaria is a business development programme aiming to increase value creation and sustainable growth in the Bulgarian business sector. The Programme is part of Norway Grants 2014-2021 which is a financing mechanism meant to contribute to the reduction of economic and social disparities in the European Economic Area (EEA) and to the strengthening of bilateral relations between Norway and the beneficiary states. More Information could be found at the Programme webpage.

For more information about the eligibility of applicants, size of the grant and other financing conditions, please visit the following web link:  http://www.innovasjonnorge.no/BgBusinessTS.

Eventual requests for clarifications/questions about the Travel Support scheme could be sent to the e-mail address of the Programme: bg.business@innovationnorway.no.

Data from a survey carried out in the Kingdom of Sweden on the business climate in Bulgaria was presented on a meeting attended by the Deputy Minister of Economy Alexander Manolev, Sweden’s Ambassador Louise Bergholm and Marieta Zaharieva, Executive Director of the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Promotion Agency.

According to the survey, 74% of Swedish companies in Bulgaria plan to expand their operations in the next 3 years.

The data showed that 94% of Swedish companies in Bulgaria intend to maintain or expand their activities, 30% already have production sites in Bulgaria, and 30% of the companies that do not have production here, intend to establish it in the next three years. Major advantages of Bulgaria as an investment destination are the EU membership, low operation costs, taxes and other charges, good infrastructure connectivity and convenient geographic location, according to the investors.

Data provided by the Ministry revealed that Swedish investments in Bulgaria amount to almost EUR 200 million and provide 8,500 jobs mainly in the telecommunications, electronics and electrical sectors, manufacture of machinery and equipment, and trade. There is good potential for the Bulgarian business on the Swedish market as well. In 2017 bilateral trade increased by 20%. Opportunities exists in sectors such as the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, textiles, machinery, equipment and furniture production, computer technology services, etc.

For the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE-Sofia), 2017 was better than the previous two years, which were marked by extremely low liquidity. The number of trades grew by 40% and traded volumes of shares rose almost 80%. The main index SOFIX retained a two-digit annual growth of 13.4% compared to the previous year. Public companies distributed BGN 260 million to shareholders, an increase of 70% compared to 2016.

According to investors, the most serious problem facing the BSE continues to be the low liquidity. According to data from the exchange, central bank BNB and analysts, the number of shareholders in Bulgarian companies has generally declined in recent years. Bulgarian investors prefer shares with an annual dividend distribution, as they provide a fixed, tax-free, stable income, besides the possibility of a capital gain. The investors are people with a monthly income of more than BGN 3,000, most of whom are programmers. Regarding stock trading skills, most of them mainly rely on specialized literature and official data from the companies which they themselves study, as well as  rely on their own intuition and experience according to the data of the analysis Investors Profile on BSE 2017, available here.

The management of BSE-Sofia expects last year’s positive trend to continue in 2018 in view of the growing forecasts for the Bulgarian economy for this and next year. BSE would like to provide simplified procedures for closing the deals as well as adequate analyses of the listed companies, and to participate in international platforms to support decision making in stock trading and attract investments, as a priority, from foreign investors, whose interest is weakly motivated by the stock exchange and the Bulgarian companies. Long-term international investors are missing, while Bulgarian investors have small resources to influence and succeed in driving and accelerating the trade.

The institutions’ commitment to the capital market situation is expected to have a positive effect, too. A concrete step in this direction is the forthcoming start of a procedure for providing vouchers for small and medium-sized enterprises. This is a program by the Ministry of Economy aimed at helping companies to enter the capital market and thus gain the opportunity to raise additional funds on the basis of their real development potential, evaluated by independent investors. It is expected that their transformation into public companies will have a positive effect on the optimization of their operational processes as well. The

The 2018 budget of Sofia Municipality is BGN 1 433 billion, exceeding last year’s budget by almost BGN 105 million. The increase is possible due to economic growth of the capital (40% of the country’s GDP) and the improved taxes and fees revenue collection in recent years. In 2018 Sofia municipality expects revenues to reach BGN 654 million.

Sofia municipality’s main projects and priorities in the budget for 2018 are:

• the third metro line is the largest project in terms of construction – about BGN 300 million, BGN 16 million thereof being from the municipal budget. The remaining funds will be provided under European programs
• repair works of “Graf Ignatiev” str., including reconstruction of the tram route in accordance with new technology and “Slaveikov” square in the second half of the year. The repair works will total BGN 13 million.
• repair works of other main streets and boulevards in the city (including Skobelev blvd., Todor Kableshkov blvd., the first stage of the construction of the eastern tangent from Botevgradsko shose blvd., etc.). The repairs will amount to over BGN 100 million.
• construction of new, as well as major repairs and energy efficiency of existing kindergartens and schools in the amount of over BGN 32 million.
• renovation of Sofia’s West Park, amounting to BGN 8.5 million and another BGN 11 million for the green system of the city
• Sports facilities and initiatives on the occasion of the event Sofia – European Capital of Sport 2018, in the amount of BGN 1 million.

The priority projects of Sofia municipality also include competitions for adaptation in urban environment and renovation of Sveta Nedelya square, the area around the National Palace of Culture, where the 1300 years of Bulgaria monument was situated, and Zone 3 of the central city district. Funds for the renovation of other parts of Sofia Zoo are also planned.

The amount of the investment program is nearly BGN 384 million, mainly from projects prepared and approved by the municipality for European funding.

In the period June 25 to June 29 in the framework of the Bulgarian presidency of the Council of the EU, Sofia will be host of the European week on digitization and innovations (EU Digital & Innovation Week), as well as of the 7th edition European Digital Assembly and the annual Webit.Festival Europe 2018.

EU Digital & Innovation Week will gather more than 6000 participants from the IT elite of Europe – politicians, specialists, managers of international companies, scientists and opinion leaders that set the trends of the digital future of Europe and the rest of the world. All of them will focus on policies for a more efficient and sustainable development of information and communication technologies, as well as on cyber security. Chair of the plenary sessions will be Bulgarian Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, Maria Gabriel. According to EU Commissioner Gabriel, the discussion on new cybersecurity rules is of great importance because of the increasing number of cyber-attacks that threaten not only personal data, but also sectors such as energy, health, transport and more.

EU Digital & Innovation Week will host as well the 9th edition of Webit.Festival 2018 – one of the most influential forums in Europe dedicated to business, technologies and innovations. Sofia is one of the annual locations of the prestigious festival together with Istanbul, Dubai, Singapore and New Delhi. The theme this year is re:Inventing Europe’s Future. Again Webit Congress will gather top executives for main planetary session and 12 parallel conferences, a number of workshops and discussions on human health, digital infrastructure, smart cities, mobility and many more.

Bulgaria ranks 51st out of 149 countries in the 11th edition of the London Research Institute Legatum – Legatum Prosperity Index. The country climbs by 6 positions from 57 last year.  

Bulgaria performed best in Natural Environment and Safety & Security and scored lowest in the Social Capital Pillar index. The biggest improvement, compared to last year, came in Economic Quality pillar, whereas the country moves on by 16 places. The country scores lowest on the Social Capital pillar. The Bulgarian profile is available at http://www.prosperity.com/globe/bulgaria, a comparison tool with any other chosen country is also available.

Over 11 years already, the Legatum Prosperity Index evaluates long-term changes in global prosperity, highlighting the drivers of progress and the nations that have made most impressive steps forward. The Institute compares 104 indicators like per-capita gross domestic product and the number of people in full-time work, but also more interesting variable such as the number of secure internet servers a country has, and how well people feel on a day-to-day basis or how willing are they to help other people or to contribute to charities.

All variables are then split into nine pillars: economic quality, business environment, governance, personal freedom, social capital, safety and security, education, health, and natural environment.

The 2017 ranks Norway number one, second is New Zealand, and third is Finland. The ranking table with all 149 countries is available at http://www.prosperity.com/rankings. Here are some of the key general findings of the 2017 index:

• World prosperity overall score increased at a record high in 2017 and now sits at its highest level in the last decade. It is now 2.6% higher than in 2007 and prosperity growth has been faster from 2012 to 2017 than it was from 2007 to 2012. However, the gap between the highest and lowest scores in the Index has increased for five straight years, indicating that while prosperity as a whole may be increasing, not all countries are yet benefiting from the increase.
• While prosperity improved around the world in 2017, no region grew as fast as Asia-Pacific. It is now easier to access credit, and intellectual property rights have improved in India, China, Pakistan and Indonesia where business environment is improving very fast.
• Every region in the world improved in Governance in 2017, judiciaries became more independent from state interference and the process of challenging governmental regulation became