The National Industrial Strategy for Manufacturing and Mining 2025-2030 will be a strategic document that will outline the guidelines for the development of industry in Bulgaria. The strategy will reflect the vision for the development of industrial policy, the relevant industrial base, including industrial parks. This vision will reflect the views of interested parties, in order to support the increase in the technological level of Bulgarian industry and its competitiveness, the creation of partnerships and the shortening of the supply chain, the development of skills, compliance with environmental standards, the improvement of industrial infrastructure and the attraction of strategic investors. The development of the document will be fund through the Technical Assistance Instrument (TSI) of the EC SG Reform.
The aim of the National Industrial Strategy is to increase the competitiveness of the Bulgarian industry, based on three priority areas:
- Improving the regulatory environment;
- Accelerating the dual transition – green and digital;
- Building a modern industrial infrastructure.
In the first priority area, the strategy measures should lead to optimization and simplification of the procedures for issuing permits for production projects involving technologies with net zero emissions – the so-called net-zero industry, as well as for issuing permits and funding projects for critical raw materials throughout the entire cycle of extraction and processing to recycling and reuse.
In the second priority area, the measures will aim to overcome the obstacles to the dual transition in the following areas: support for technological modernization of production; creating prerequisites for equal access to expertise; climate-neutral energy sources; skills and retraining of employees.
In the third priority area, the strategy’s measures should include steps to develop and build industrial infrastructure – industrial parks to ensure access to low- or zero-emission energy, appropriate digital infrastructure, conditions for industrial symbiosis, services supporting the green and digital transition, and appropriate social infrastructure attractive to investors.
The strategy development activities began on 10 October 2024 with an official kick-off meeting at the Ministry of Economy and Industry, attended by the Minister of Economy, representatives of the EC SG Structural Reform Support, the contractor Ernst & Young Bulgaria and over forty representatives of key stakeholders from the public and private sectors. During the meeting was presented the project, participants discussed the project methodology and representatives from business and public institutions shared their views on the key issues facing the target sectors.
In the period November 2024 – February 2025, a number of additional working meetings were held with representatives of stakeholders, including the Bulgarian Investment Agency (BAI) and the administration of the Council of Ministers, with whom were discussed the strategy structure, requirements for monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs) and the established strategic management. The activities carried out to date to develop the analyses include desk research, analyses, individual consultations and semi-structured interviews with representatives of public authorities, an online survey and focus groups with the participation of leading experts from the individual industries.
In the period from 10 December 2024 to 28 January 2025, were organized four separate focus groups, including one for the mining sector, heavy industry, light industry and public institutions.