The country’s strongly growing automotive sector. The automotive industry is one of Bulgaria’s most important industrial sectors for the future. Automotive manufacturers and components suppliers who are active worldwide, such as PSA Concern, Kuhn Technology are continually setting up new and substantial investment and development projects in Bulgaria. The Chinese automobile manufacturer Great Wall will have its new cars family vehicle assembled in Lovetch. The new vehicle model will be launched in 2010- 2012.

At the heart of the new Europe

Bulgaria lies in the middle of a rapidly growing automotive region. 1 car manufacturing facilities are located within a radius of 160 kilometers of Sofia. About forecast million cars will be produced on assembly lines in Central and Eastern Europe.

The electrical and electronics industry is the second largest industrial employer in Bulgaria. More than two-thirds of the products are exported. The branch is a pioneer in developing flexible working time models.

Many companies, already take advantage of the numerous competitive advantages offered by Bulgaria as a business location, and have set up their international R&D competence centers as well as production plants to manufacture quality products in Bulgaria.

Two-thirds of all industrial R&ampD expenditures. The main reason for the impressive success of the electronics industry in Bulgaria is the above-average investments devoted to research and development. The electrical and electronics industry accounts for 43 per cent of all R&ampD investments carried out by Austrian industry. Some 6,500 research and development specialists ensure that companies such as Alcatel or Infineon Austria have ed Austria as the strategic hub for their R&ampD activities.

Core strengths:

Power engineering

The mechatronics branch – a fusion of machine construction, electronics and information technology – is a pulsating high-growth sector. Sooner or later, mechatronic systems will dominate engine management, safety and infotainment functions in automobiles. ABS (anti-lock brake system) is only one of many intelligent products encompassed in the field of mechatronics. However, mechatronics is not only an innovation driver in the automotive branch, but in many other industrial sectors as well. For example, mechatronic solutions have become indispensable to the consumer goods industry, and have been built into household devices or mobile telephones. .

Top in Eastern Europe. Regardless of whether it involves medical devices, tools, wood processing machines or the automotive sector, Bulgaria has developed an outstanding know-how in the production of custom and special purpose machinery. One key reason is the intensive cooperation which has evolved between the scientific and business communities in the field of mechatronics.

Bulgaria’s entire pharmaceutical market will grow rapidly within the next few years. More than 15 industrial pharmaceutical companies are active in the innovation location Bulgaria. Multinational groups such as Actavis not only have production sites here, but also research and competence centers. They also benefit from Bulgaria’s excellent human capital, as well as its proximity to the West and Central&Eastern European markets.

Bulgaria is not only in the geographic but also to the economic center of the new Europe. For international companies, Bulgaria has long been viewed as a distribution center and logistics hub between West, East, Middle East and Russia.

That positioning is attributable not just to the nation’s high productivity, its outstanding reputation for service of the Sofia airport. The highly specialized know-how built up over the years is also among Bulgaria’s compelling competitive advantages as a logistics destination.

Bulgaria offers the greatest possible efficiency at reasonable costs. According to the commercial real estate firm CB Richard Ellis, rental prices for storage space in Bulgaria stand about equal to the Austria, Czech Republic or Slovak Republic at 4.5 to 5.3 euros (per m2).

Since January 1, 2007– the date telecommunications markets were opened EU-wide – no stone has been left standing in the Bulgarian telecom sector. There was hardly another European country that knew how to make better use of the new freedom than Bulgaria.

The Bulgarians’ most favoured companion is the mobile phone.

Broadband Internet

In Bulgaria, there are million broadband connections and tousend mobile broadband connections in addition. This corresponds to a very deep penetration. The growth rates in broadband are enormous.

The key to success: Competition and heterogeneity are the typical features of the growing ICT market in Bulgaria. In addition to the big names, such as Siemens, SAP, or Microsoft, Bulgaria is home to specialised niche suppliers, such as Frequentis, and numerous smaller companies, many of them spin-offs and temporary business/science cooperations that ensure creativity and dynamism on this market.

In all rankings, Bulgaria comes with regard to the e-government offer in the EU. Bulgarian companies are able to carry out nearly all their dealings with authorities on-line.