Sofia Investment Agency Meets Women in Business in Sofia
Image source: www.sofia.bg
At a meeting with business representatives organised by magazine and club ‘Business Lady’, Sofia’s Mayor Yordanka Fandakova and Sofia Investment Agency’s CEO Vladimir Danailov presented the tools and activities with which Sofia Municipality supports small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in Sofia.
“Small and medium-sized enterprises are the backbone of the economy in Sofia: 97.7% of all companies in Sofia are SMEs. They generate 70% of the city’s production and 63% of the workforce in Sofia are employed in the sector,” Mayor Yordanka Fandakova said at the meeting. According to her, these figures are a recognition of the good business climate in the city and the consistent work towards improving the conditions for starting and developing a business.
In order to promote small and medium-sized businesses in the city as one of the main sources of jobs and economic growth for Sofia, the Sofia Municipality works with a specific unit, the Sofia Investment Agency, to help investors grow their businesses in the city. Thus, the metropolitan municipality is the first in the country with its own investment agency.
Among the instruments that Sofia Investment Agency uses to prop up the local business, our CEO Vladimir Danailov pointed out the support we give to startups and SMEs to compete internationally; our assistance to make the most of the various grants and instruments; the Accelerator Startup Sofia program of the Sofia Municipality to support start-up entrepreneurs. He also pointed to our work on the City-to-City programs for cooperation with other European cities such as Vienna and London, which enables us to support businesses with information, bilateral business delegations, contacts with business communities in partner cities, financial instruments and others.
