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The crisis has shifted investments from finances to manufacturing

11 October 2012 / 22:10:01  GRReporter
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One of the first things that need to be done and it is often underestimated is the good marketing and  nowledge of the country. Bulgaria has always suffered from being very small and relatively unknown. It is not even so much that it has a bad image but rather that it has no image at all. The biggest companies have consultants and whole departments to assess the conditions in different countries but in most cases, the average business cannot be aware of the comparative advantages of Bulgaria, because there is not enough information. The avalanche effect is in force with us. A business activity, which has already established itself in Bulgaria, attracts other SMEs, which trust the assessment of those already in the market. It took some time in Bulgaria. In the early 1990s, there were almost no foreign companies in the country. Then, those, which had established themselves in the market, attracted some of their partners and investment began to increase. We need more than the good word of the companies that are already operating in Bulgaria; we need a more purposeful policy at state level to seek active investors.

On the other hand, the incentives to attract investors are very often underestimated. Each country has a set of rules and incentives for potential investors. Many large corporations choose initially 10 to 15 countries in which they could invest. Next, they select two or three countries. At this stage, incentives different from those of the rival countries should be provided in order for the country to be distinguished. It does not matter whether these incentives involve taxes, land or labour costs. Therefore, the country should prepare such a package, which is good for investors and which does not cause damage to the country. In other words, it does not make sense for a country to give ten million to attract five, but the opposite would make sense.

Thirdly there remains the overall business climate that includes macroeconomic and political stability, taxation, judiciary, efficient public administration, lack of transparency and corruption. In Bulgaria, the judiciary has much to do but there is an improvement in the activities of public administration and its regional organizations.

Tags: EconomyMarketsInvestBulgaria AgencyBorislav StefanovGreeceCrisis
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