During today’s meeting with the Executive Director of the Bulgarian Startup Association (BESCO) – Dobromir Ivanov, held in BIA under discussion were the possibilities for partnership between the two organizations.
“The old economy and Industry 4.0. should not be separated like oil and water but to interact with each other. Our efforts will only make sense if we work for the benefit of the Bulgarian entrepreneur, who wants to get out of the local scene and be recognized on the globally, creating products with high added value. There are many deficits that need to be filled. We are staggering, even from neighboring countries”, said BIA’s President during the meeting. He also added that BIA will also actively contribute through its regional structures to all BESCO initiatives.
The Bulgarian Startup Association was established in 2017 with the aim of linking young companies and the state. To date, BESCO members are over 400, including global companies such as Google, Uber, Viber and many more.
Dobromir Ivanov is among the active young entrepreneurs, co-founder of the Stigni.bg platform and Director of Business Development in Eastern Europe in the FretLink startup. The BESCO Board of Directors includes six other entrepreneurs and business founders in Bulgaria. The organization also has a team of mentors and partners in different cities across the country.
“Our goal is to be a communication channel between the startup community and the state, to seek smart solutions that are flexible and adequate, not to catch up with Europe, but to be a leading country,” said BESCO’s CEO at the meeting. Ivanov added that they are constantly in contact with other associations in this field, in search of good examples from around the world. “There is no model to follow, but there is something to learn from the experience of France, Poland, Singapore, etc.,” he added.
BESCO has already collected over 200 proposals for policy changes on startups. The ideas come from direct communication with community entrepreneurs and analysis of 30 countries that are ranked as attractive for doing business.
Among the proposed changes is the proposal for amendments and supplements to the normative acts to enable third-country nationals to reside on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria with a view to starting and developing an innovative business project.
Today’s meeting is the first but not the last one between BIA and BESCO. A meeting is going to be held with the local startup communities in Stara Zagora and Vratsa, Dobromir Ivanov will be one of the mentors who will reveal their experience in the field of sharing economy within the framework of the accelerator program organized by the International Economic Relations Center at BIA (register here).
