EU urged to copy Bulgarian technology model

Member states could “learn a lot” from Bulgaria’s technology boom in their efforts to make the EU more competitive.

That was the message to emerge from a briefing in Brussels by Sergei Stanishev, the Bulgarian prime minister.

Speaking ahead of the Spring EU summit in Brussels, Stanishev said Bulgaria had successfully liberalised and modernised the telecommunications sector and the IT sector was now very competitive.

“The sector already accounts for 10 per cent of GDP in Bulgaria and the industry supports some 500,000 jobs in my country,” he said.

“This gives you an idea of how successful we have been in developing high tech services.

"There is no doubt the 'old' EU member states, for all their experience,  could learn from what we have been doing in Bulgaria in terms of economic growth and competitiveness."

However, he conceded that efforts were still needed to tackle a shortage of skilled labour and violations of intellectual property rights in Bulgaria.

The briefing was the first in a series of events organised by Microsoft in partnership with central and eastern European governments on the prospects for the ICT sector in the region.

Another keynote speaker, Jan Muhlfeit, a Prague-based Microsoft vice-president, with special responsibility for government strategy, called on the EU to encourage “best practice sharing” between EU member states.

“This could save money and encourage innovation, not just in other central and eastern European countries but throughout the EU,” said Muhlfeit.

He said Bulgaria’s success in the IT sector had shown that it and other new member states have the potential to bring an “energy and flexibility” to the EU’s efforts to meeting the goals of the Lisbon agenda.

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