Sofia in Talks to Join the Start Alliance Platform
New opportunities for partnership initiatives between Sofia and Berlin were discussed during the two-day visit of Vladimir Danailov, CEO of Sofia Investment Agency, and Stefan Yonkov, head of the Trade and Economic Office at the Embassy of Bulgaria in Berlin. The discussions were focused on startup collaborations and traditional and technological industries in the two capitals.
The talks with Dr. Christian Herzog, founder of the platform and head of the Digital Business and Startup Companies Division at Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technologie, were mainly focused on the joining of Sofia to the Start Alliance platform, the business network of the most attractive business centers in the world.
Berlin Partner is a public-private partner network that has been supporting the local and foreign business for more than 20 years and has shaped the face of the German capital as an attractive business destination. The organization cooperates with the Berlin State Senate and with more than 280 companies dedicated to promoting the city and responsible for the image of the German capital around the world.
The aim of Start Alliance is to help startups in adjusting their business models to international requirements, support their global growth and accelerate corporate innovation.
Over the past few years, Sofia has been showing a sharp development of the technology sector and entrepreneurial environment and is enjoying a strong international investor interest. The inclusion of Sofia in the alliance will be an extraordinary opportunity for our city to be a valuable partner in the network, which has now included undisputed startup hubs like Beijing, Berlin, Dubai, London, New York, Paris, Shanghai, Tel Aviv, Vienna and Warsaw, CEO Danailov said.
In addition, opportunities for cooperation in the field of traditional and technological industries and partnership initiatives between the two cities in support of startup businesses were also discussed at the meeting with Berlin Partner.
The activation of the economic relationships between Sofia and the German capital was also the focus of the discussion with representatives of the Senate Department of Economics, Energy and Business of Berlin.
According to Stefan Yonkov, Bulgaria’s commercial representative in Berlin, both cities have many common interests in entrepreneurship, high technology, the Internet of Things (IoT) and many others. Our country is an attractive business partner because of its geographic location with convenient logistical connection to leading German business markets as well as due to our EU membership, access to educational institutions and qualified staff, the currency board, stable economic environment, favorable tax policy, high competitiveness and lower production costs.
