Sofia Investment Agency to Present the Creative Sector at Business Meetings in Vienna
Sofia Investment Agency and a delegation of 12+ creative companies from Sofia will head to Vienna for a series of business meetings in the framework of the ‘25 Hours in Creative Vienna’ event to take part on September 25th and 26th. We are organising the initiative together with Vienna Business Agency with the aim to facilitate the internationalisation and expansion of Bulgarian creative companies through partnerships in Austria and other German-speaking markets.
The ‘25 Hours in Creative Vienna’ delegation will include participants from Sofia-based companies active in gaming, film and video production, and culture and technology (CulTech). So far, twelve companies have confirmed their participation in the delegation. The schedule includes meetings with the Culture Department of the City of Vienna, the Vienna Film Commission, the Austrian Business Agency, the Vienna Business Agency, as well as visits to Austrian companies that focus on game development, design and animation. The full program of the event can be found here.
A special panel in the program will be dedicated to the presentation of sector data from Sofia and presentations of the successful projects of Sofia-based companies.
We are organising the event in collaboration with the Vienna Business Agency under the ‘City-to-City’ agreement, signed in 2018, which aims to facilitate and promote business cooperation between the two capitals. The delegation’s visit to Vienna is a continuation of the Create&Grow initiative, organised by Sofia Investment Agency and Vienna Business Agency this February in Sofia with the participation of 65 local companies active in film production, video game development, animation, fashion, design, architecture and marketing for the creative sector. At that time, Sofia’s business community and our partners from Vienna expressed their interest in organising a follow-up event, which would connect Sofia-based companies with Austrian partners and promote long-term cooperation in the field.
The creative sector is a priority area for both Sofia and Vienna. The importance of creative activities for economies is increasing globally. Their contribution to local economies is growing, also as part of the process of creating high-tech value-added products. The share of employees in creative companies in Sofia is between 5% and 8% (above the EU average). Creative activities make up 6% of Sofia’s economy (close to the contribution of other priority sectors such as manufacturing and outsourcing, at 10% each).
We hope that the meetings in Vienna will support the growth and internationalisation of this sector, which is a priority for Sofia.
The enrolment deadline for ‘25 Hours in Vienna’ has been extended to September 9th (Monday). If you are interested in participating, please submit your application through the registration form here. The number of participating companies is limited, but if there is an opening for late inclusion, our team will contact you.
