photos by Alexander Acosta Osorio

Under the title "The Business in 2010 - growth perspectives," a forum organized by the "Manager" magazine was held in the NAB auditorium on Wednesday, Jan. 27. Participants in the discussions were business executives from Blagoevgrad and the region, economic specialists, as well as representatives of the municipality.

Professor Garabed Minassian, director of the Institute of Economics at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, opened the first block of the meeting with an overview of last years' economic situation in the country. He said that since its acceptance to the EU, the country saw twice as much foreign investment as during the 15 years of the transition. He also pointed out that lately, the industry levels have been on the decrease, except for the tobacco branch that shows a 40 per cent growth. "The worst times of the financial crisis are already behind us," Minassian said.

Kostadin Paskalev, mayor of Blagoevgrad, said that the crisis is not the aftermath of the EU withdrawal from Bulgaria, but rather from the fact that EU policies have never had much influence in the country. He added that the crisis can prove constructive for the development of the Bulgarian business, as long as the government does not meddle with it and leaves the private sector recover on its own.

In the second part of the forum the topic of discussion was the country's announced for early 2010 application for entrance in the European exchange rate mechanism (ERM II) and its implications on the economy. The ERM II is the system EU members join in order to meet the convergence criteria for switching their national currency with the euro. Currently Bulgaria's national currency is pegged to the euro.

"Bulgaria is the only EU country that will fulfill all the requirements of the Stability pact in 2010," Lachezar Bogdanov, managing partner in the consulting company Industry Watch, said. Bulgaria is also expected to have the lowest budget deficit in 2010, he added. "There are no valid arguments that the situation will worsen once Bulgaria joins the ERM II mechanism."

Minassian presented a contrary view to the question of whether entrance in the ERM II system will harm the Bulgarian economy. He said he thinks that the adoption of the euro does not necessarily imply monetary stability and economic development. "Everyone is equal, but not quite," he commented on the fact that there is no requirement and pressure from the EU that countries such as England, Denmark and Sweden adopt the euro, while this is the case with all other EU members including Bulgaria.

Comments

Viktor Tsekov

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Great article, just a little correction - the forum was organized by Manager magazine AND the AUBG Business Club!

Tuesday 02 February 2010, 20:49

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