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Credit Rating of Bulgaria Bulgaria has proven higher investment credibility. BB В ( stable outlook ) by Standard&Poor’s ; BB В ( stable outlook ) by Fitch IBCA ; B а 1 ( stable outlook ) by Moody’s ; BB В ( positive outlook ) by the Japan Credit Rating Agency.
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Credit Rating of Bulgaria Bulgaria has proven higher investment credibility BBВ (stable outlook)by Standard&Poor’s; BBВ (stable outlook)by Fitch IBCA; Bа1(stable outlook)by Moody’s; BBВ(positive outlook)bythe Japan Credit Rating Agency June 2004 Standard&Poor’s gave an investment-grade foreign-currency rating
Economic Policy Priorities • Increasing the competitiveness of Bulgarian economy through measures for improving the business environment; • Support for investments and innovations by creating the requisite infrastructure; Reforms in the sphere of education and development of science as essential elements in building a knowledge-based economy.
Record FDI performer 2004 and ‘sector drivers’ dynamics FDI as % of GDP, 2004E FDI per capita (EURO) 10.1% (according to preliminary data) FDI sector shares, past three years FDI stock by sector, 1998 – 2004 % Sources: BNB, InvestBulgaria Agency, Bank Austria Creditanstalt Economic Research, September 2004
Key projects 2004 • Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC) privatization was the investment ‘milestone’ to effect the whole telecom market
Prospective competitiveness outlook Average labor cost per hour, USD Average real wages (% change yoy) • For the next few years real wages in Bulgaria are expected to grow at some 2% on annual basis; real wages growth rate in Bulgaria will be similar to that in CEE countries • Alarming decline in educational performance in schools reduces competitiveness in perspective Source: Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study,TIMSS 2003, EIU
Bulgaria in global ‘rethinking’ of hi-tech leaders • MARCH 28, 2005:GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE TESTING PROGRAM ON A GLOBAL SCALE (BRAINBENCH) FINDS HIGH CONCENTRATION OF TECHNICAL SKILLS IN EASTERN EUROPE • Surprising results that challenge commonly-held views about concentrations of the world"s technical talent pools: • Eastern European nations such as Romania, Latvia, Bulgaria, and Belarus lead Western countries such as the U.K., Australia, Germany, and France in total certifications. • As a percentage of total population, Latvia, Estonia, andBulgaria lead the world. "We"re used to hearing in the press about technology skills being outsourced and concentrated in Asia, primarily India but considering how relevant English is to things like programming languages, the strong results across nearly all of Eastern Europe are fascinating. Looking at the numbers makes you rethink some of the usual assumptions about the global workforce skills pool.” Mike Russiello, Brainbench’s President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you!Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry 42, Parchevich Str., BG-1058 SofiaBulgariaTel.: (+359 2) 987 25 28Fax: (+359 2) 987 32 09Web: http://www.bcci.bgE-mail bcci@bcci.bg