The South Eastern Bulgarian Region
The South and East Bulgaria region, as defined by the MIRIAD project, includes four out of the six planning regions (NUTS 2 level) in Bulgaria - South-West region, South-Central region, South-East region, and North-East region. It covers an area of about 82 393.7 sq km, which means 74.2% of the country territory. It includes the biggest planning region in Bulgaria - South Central, forming 24.8% of the total area of the country. The overall region has population size of 6 064 938 people, giving 79% of the total Bulgarian population. With respect to population the biggest subregion is the Southwestern planning region, where its size reaches 2 116 791 people, or 27.6% of the total of the country. In 2006 the region as a whole provides the 83.3% of the country's GDP level. It is characterized by high inter- and intra regional disparities in economic development.A leading place among the consisting planning regions occupies again Southwestern planning region, producing in 2005 48.6% of the region's GDP and 40.5% of the country's GDP.
Regarding the R&D investments, the region manifests its main characteristics - the high centralisation and concentration of resources and activities in the capital of the country. The South-West planning region including Sofia gives almost 84% of the R&D expenditure of the country, whereas the North-East planning region ranks second place with only 5% of the total R&D expenditures. In relation to knowledge supply and creation, the MIRIAD region covers 93% of the staff involved in such activities in Bulgaria. Within the region the South-West planning region concentrates more than 80% of the R&D personnel and researchers, and hosts approximately half (21 out of 43) of the universities and the other high schools. The South-Central planning region occupies second place with its 9 universities, 6 of which are concentrated in Plovdiv. The less developed region with respect to that criterion is South-Eastern planning region, where only two universities are located. The knowledge demand and absorption within the South and East Bulgaria also varies considerably. The share of persons with tertiary education ranges from 16.5% in South Central to 20% in North Central Region. In North-Central Bulgaria the share of employed in medium and high-tech manufacturing is 1.5 times higher compared to the MIRIAD region. The largest proportion of employed in medium and high tech manufacturing is observed in North Central Region followed by South Central in 2004.
The key stakeholders involved in R&D investment policies in Bulgaria are: the Bulgarian National Government, the District Innovation Commissions (in process of establishment), the Regional Innovation Commissions, and the Regional Development Councils. The R&D investments policies impacting on the Bulgarian MIRIAD region are double pronged - there is a national innovation policy as well as steps towards increasing the role of regional initiative by developing Regional Innovation Strategies for each of the planning regions (the RIS for South-Central Region had been developed from 2001 to 2004). The two recently elaborated documents defining the R&D and innovation policies in the country are the National Innovation Strategy (2004) and the National Strategy for Science, Research and Development (2005).
Links
- innovation.bg
- IRC Bulgaria
- ARC Fund
- Ministry of Economy and Energy of the Republic of Bulgaria
- Bulgarian Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Agency (BSMEPA)
- Ministry of Education and Science - Scientific Research Department
- Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works