Sofia hosted a Seminar on UNIDO-Bulgaria Cooperation in Sofia on Thursday. It was organized jointly by the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association (BICA), UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Foreign Ministry to mark the 10th anniversary of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between BICA and UNIDO.
UNIDO Deputy Director General and Managing Director of the Directorate of Global Partnerships and External Relations Fatou Haidara said Bulgaria is an important partner of UNIDO, an important Member State since 1985, with a clear vision for development.
Haidara outlined UNIDO’s mandate to promote inclusive and sustainable industrial development, create jobs and generate added value. She identified three main global priorities for the organization, noting that they were aligned with Bulgaria’s goals: food security, climate action and global value chains.
She said the UNIDO team was ready to provide practical services and guidance to strengthen cooperation with Bulgarian companies.
Haidara said global challenges required broad partnerships involving governments, the private sector, financial institutions, academia and civil society. She stressed that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were key, as sustainable economic growth and investment could not be achieved without the active involvement of private businesses.
Deputy Economy, Investment and Industry Minister Levent Memish highlighted the strategic importance of industry to the Bulgarian economy, noting that in 2025 the sector accounted for 24.1% of gross value added and around 21% of the country’s GDP. He said Bulgaria aimed to gradually move away from a model based mainly on the production of components and the attraction of basic manufacturing facilities towards developing its own high-value-added end products, technological advancement, innovation and research and development.
Memish also discussed the impact of digitalization, artificial intelligence, automation and the green transition on manufacturing, linking Bulgaria’s efforts to key EU initiatives such as the Clean Industrial Deal, the Net-Zero Industry Act and the proposed Industrial Accelerator Act, which seek to modernize strategic manufacturing sectors.
He stressed that cooperation between businesses, universities, research organizations and institutions was crucial, adding that UNIDO’s international experience could help Bulgarian companies build new partnerships and gain access to international markets, enabling Bulgaria to become an active developer of technologies rather than merely a manufacturing base.
Deputy Foreign Minister Hristo Dikanski said the event aimed to draw the private sector’s attention to the practical benefits of partnering with UNIDO, including technical assistance, international contacts and access to new markets. These offer both commercial advantages and an impetus for industrial development, he said.
Dikanski said Bulgaria was consolidating its role as a strategic gateway connecting Europe with Central Asia, the South Caucasus, the Middle East and the Persian Gulf. In this context, he highlighted Bulgaria’s plans to co-host a high-level regional Connectivity Summit with the European Commission in 2027.
BICA Governing Board Chair Rumen Radev said considerable information, good practices and ideas had been exchanged over the decade since the memorandum with UNIDO was signed, while support for SMEs remained a priority for the association. He stressed the exchange of experience and sharing of successful practices should lead to practical implementation. This will require coordinated institutional support at government level for the internationalization of SMEs, as well as building on the forum through a specific agreement or memorandum with UNIDO at government level.
Radev said that only 12% of SMEs in the EU operate internationally, selling in other member states, and only between a fifth and a quarter of these reach markets outside the EU. He stressed that partnerships between small and medium-sized companies were the main channel for technology transfer, research and development, and specific “micro-skills”.
He addressed barriers to making use of existing trade agreements, noting that the EU had more than 40 such agreements, which provide preferential access to over 80 countries worldwide. However, SMEs are unable to make effective use of them due to a lack of awareness and practical experience. Other obstacles include certification and standardization requirements and insufficient knowledge of specific customs procedures, he said.
He proposed several steps to build a supportive ecosystem, including practical guides and roadmaps to show SMEs how to use trade preferences and what benefits they could gain from them. Radev also stressed the need for government involvement, saying that initiatives by organizations such as BICA and UNIDO’s support should be backed by the active involvement of government institutions.
He described as a positive step the allocation of around EUR 10 million for internationalization, included in the budget discussions.
Deputy Minister of Innovation and Growth Mira Yosifova said that Bulgaria can bet on artificial intelligence in the fields of science, computer science, and engineering.
She looked back to the 1880s and the replacement of coal-fired engines with new electric motors. However, the real economic leap forward only occurred when factories completely transformed their organization and work processes, rather than simply purchasing the new machinery, the Deputy Minister noted. She pointed out that the situation today is identical, because technology alone is not enough. In her words, success belongs to those companies that are ready to reorganize their business processes and rethink the way they perceive and implement innovations.
She also addressed the role of the government and UNIDO, emphasizing that in a rapidly changing environment, the government must provide reliable public services that facilitate business operations and give companies time to develop their products. Cooperation with organizations such as UNIDO is key to supporting small and medium-sized enterprises in adopting AI and to better integrating science with industry, Yosifova argued.

UNIDO-Bulgaria Cooperation Discussed at Seminar in Sofia THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-11-12 01:01:00

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