On 28-29 September 2006, Mr. Ruslan Stefanov, Senior Advisor at ARC Fund participated in the International conference Why invest in South Eastern Europe? in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The conference was organized by UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe – BRESCE.
Distinguished experts, representatives of European and international institutions, as well as the private sector discussed theoretical issues and practical approaches regarding science and innovation management at international, regional and national levels. Mr. Stefanov presented the Bulgarian science and innovation policy on the eve of the EU accession. His main conclusions were that despite the sound economic growth of an average 4% annually in the last nine years, the R&D funding in Bulgaria is scarce and imbalanced. The private sector is not willing or able to take up its part – R&D expenditure in Bulgaria has dropped from about 2% of GDP in 1989 to 0.5% in 2004 with the private shouldering less than 30% of it. However, according to Mr. Stefanov Bulgaria has an unique opportunity to invigorate its long-term growth potential by modernizing its S&T and innovation system and integrating it into the wider European and global space.
