iN Sofia 2025: A competitive industry is built on speed, adaptability, and people

At a time when Europe is rethinking its industrial policy, Bulgaria must also find its balance between vision and action. Success depends not only on funding, but also on the speed with which we turn ideas into results. We need a faster, more flexible, and more connected economic environment in which innovation is not lost in bureaucracy but reaches production and the market.

These conclusions were agreed upon by the participants in the panel "Competitive Industry with European Support," part of the international forum iN Sofia 2025, organized by Economic.bg. The event took place on October 31 at the Hilton Hotel.

The panel was moderated by Assoc. Prof. Milena Angelova, Chief Secretary of the Association of Industrial Capital in Bulgaria.

Crossing the "valley of death"

Europe can no longer afford to leave its innovators in the valley of death – that moment when, after the creation of a new technology, there is insufficient large-scale and flexible funding to reach production," said Tatyana Lopez Garrido, Deputy Head of Unit at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry and Entrepreneurship (DG GROW).

According to her, the new fund will bring together all the instruments for financing industry – from Horizon Europe to the Innovation Fund – and will make access more flexible and simpler, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, which often give up because of complex procedures.

We currently have around 13 different entry points for applications. Companies don't know where to start and who to turn to. We want to change that with a single point of access and uniform rules that will apply to all programs," Garrido explained.

The European Competitiveness Fund will finance the entire value chain – from research and prototype development to production and market entry. This, she stressed, is a lesson from recent crises:

To have a stable industry, we need to support the entire chain, not just individual projects."

The state's vision

The introduction of the new European instruments will also require a new logic in national economic policy, according to Martin Danovsky, Deputy Minister of Innovation and Growth.

The new competitiveness matrix is based on speed, adaptability, and the ability to innovate continuously. If a system meets at least two of these three characteristics, it can take the economy to a new level," he said.

According to him, Bulgaria must focus on the quality of growth, not just on quantitative indicators.

Percentages are not the most important thing. We need to think about what kind of growth we want to achieve – one that is based on innovation, technology, and added value."

Danovsky also pointed out several key priorities: digitization and technological renewal of existing industry, strengthening of research and development, creation of national data management capacity, and application of artificial intelligence in real industrial processes.

Artificial intelligence is no longer something abstract—it is here, and we must use it to improve our reputation, talents, and sovereignty," said the deputy minister.

The business perspective

From a business perspective, Plamena Nenkova, Deputy Executive Director for International Relations and Sustainable Development at Glavbolgarstroy Holding, emphasized that construction also has a key role to play in the new competitive economy.

The sector is perceived as conservative, but it has enormous potential for transformation through greening, digitization, and automation," she said.

The company is already implementing innovations in circular construction with a project for the processing of construction waste under the Horizon Europe program and is introducing automated processes in large infrastructure projects such as the Vertical Gas Corridor, where new technologies reduce deadlines significantly.

While a manual weld would take a whole day, with the automation we have implemented, we can do forty a day. The effect on efficiency is tangible," she gave as an example.

Nenkova also emphasized the importance of human capital—the need for well-trained specialists and an environment that encourages innovation. On the initiative of the company, together with other companies, a Competitiveness Council was created in the summer – a platform that brings together business, academia, and institutions around ideas for sustainable development and modernization of the economy.

Translated with DeepL.