WORLD BANK: FOUR SECTORS WILL HELP BULGARIA OVERCOME THE ECONOMIC CRISIS

Bulgaria could exit the crisis and step on the road to a quick and intelligent growth, if it manages to develop four main sectors of its economy, reads the latest report of the World Bank, as cited by Radio Bulgaria.

The experts’ analyses are based on the traditional Bulgarian industries and the country’s potential to maintain its market positions and penetrate new markets. The first sector which could contribute a lot to the development of the national economy is food industry.

Bulgaria has strong traditions in the manufacture and the export of high-quality wines, cheese and poultry. The revenues from this sector amount to some EUR 4 billion. The experts’ analyses show that Bulgaria maintains high quality standards, has good access to the European markets, has a traditional presence on the Russian markets and a cheap work force. The second sector with a very strong potential is machine building and electronics, which is focused entirely on the foreign markets. 50% of the country’s exports to Germany and Italy comprises of produce of the machine building and the electronics sphere. Migration is the biggest problem for this sector, as many qualified people leave to work abroad.

According to experts from the World Bank, the third sector with a potential to boost the economic development of that country is pharmacy.

Although the Bulgarian pharmaceutical industry is currently among the smallest ones in the whole EU, it has a turnover of over EUR 1 billion. All forecasts show that this sector has a high growth potential, due to the huge investments made in the pharmaceutical industry.

The potential of this industry is based on the country’s strong pharmaceutical traditions and the geographic proximity to markets in the Middle East and the former Soviet republics. Most experts contend that this industry needs strong national and European financial support, because of the high competition in the sector.

The fourth sector which could help Bulgaria overcome the crisis is the high-tech industry. The profits in this field have been growing by over 80% on an annual basis over the past ten years or so. This sector stands for 47% of the total export of business services. Highest profits are made in the telecommunications field. However, the problem regarding the lack of highly qualified personnel is very topical in this sector as well.