Minister of Economy Teodor Sedlarski took part in the Fifth East Forum Berlin 2017, which took place today in the German capital city. The future of European and Eurasian partnership was the theme of this year’s forum which was attended by the President of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce Erik Schweitzer, the Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Commission Board Tigran Sargsyan, the Managing Director of the German Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations and government representatives of Kazakhstan, the Ukraine and Croatia.
The Bulgarian Minister of Economy Teodor Sedlarski participated in a roundtable on “Digitization as a Connecting Bridge between the East and the West” together with the State Secretary in the Croatian Ministry of Economy, a representative of the Eurasian Economic Commission, as well as managers from SAP and Deutsche Telekom. In his speech, Minister Sedlarski presented the Bulgarian achievements in the digital economy and the country’s ambitions to be a digital hub in South Eastern Europe, as well as Bulgarian strategy for Industry 4.0 prepared by his team. Minister Sedlarski stressed on the need to invest in new ideas and better financial models to support startups.
The talks and meetings during the forum were grouped in thematic discussions in which heads of leading international technology companies took part. The participants talked over the challenges to the economic partnership between Europe and Eurasia, caused by migration, euroscepticism, Brexit and nationalism, and the possibility of establishing a common economic space from Lisbon to Vladivostok.
The first day of the working visit of Minister Sedlarski in Berlin will end with an opening event on the occasion of tomorrow’s participation of our country as a partner in the StartUp Camp 2017 specialized international conference.