Information and communication technologies, in which the software sector is the leading one, has a real opportunity in the next five years to take the first place in terms of revenues among the industries in the Bulgarian economy. This was said by the Minister of Economy and Industry Nikola Stojanov during the discussion on the presentation of the data from the annual report on the state of the software sector in Bulgaria – “BASSCOM Barometer 2022”.
“The foreign investments attracted in the Information and Communication Technologies sector last year improved a 7-year record and reached nearly half a billion leva”, Minister Stojanov underscored. According to him, this is the sector of the Bulgarian economy with the highest concentration of companies that are European and world leaders in their activities.
“Today we are motivated not so much to attract new investors to the sector, but to help Bulgarian companies grow and develop, including through joint projects with foreign partners. Because we have already developed specific know-how and we need to keep what we have and build on it,” Nikola Stojanov added.
The gross value added of the ICT sector is growing by 25% year-on-year, and the industry is among the 3 highest growing industries in the country, it became clear during the event. According to the “Digitalk 101” ranking, in 2021, ICT sector companies are realizing over 20% revenue growth, and business forecasts are for up to 30% growth in 2022. “All this definitely makes ICT the fastest growing sector in the country,” the economic minister added.
The sector employs more than 70 thousand people and has grown by 57% in ten years. In this regard, Minister Stojanov commented on one of the main challenges facing this industry – a clear plan for the development of personnel and their integration into the labour market, according to the needs of the sector. Among other topics that were commented is the need for coordinated action for the digitalization of small and medium-sized enterprises in Bulgaria.
In the discussion for the presentation of the data from the annual report on the state of the software sector in Bulgaria took part Dobroslav Dimitrov, Chairperson of the Bulgarian Association of Software Companies, Philip Mutafis, member of the Management Board of the Association, Georgi Brashnarov, member of the Advisory Board of BASSCOM and others.