Regional meeting as part of the Action Plan's implementation in Bulgaria.

What are further steps in its implementation?

Within the period of approval, meantime stakeholders and institutions within with the caretaker government made some amendments in the policy instrument- Programme “ Innovation and competitiveness in enterprises” 2021-2027  and related measures funded by the National plan for Recovery and Resilience.

      
As the main action in the AP – voucher system for supporting startups and SMEs have been moved from the policy instrument to NPRR expecting faster implementation after receiving the funding by EC, in the Programme „Innovation and competitiveness in enterprises” is included the measures for promotion of services for startups and SMEs via One Stop Shops established in the existing regional business support centers and industrial parks. The specific condition is that this support won’t be ensured via voucher system but applying in specific competition by regions. JS of the INTERREG EUROPE programme approved the AP and it was published in the OSS project website.
The next step was to inform the stakeholders ‘ group and submit them the documents and the monitoring plan for collecting feedbacks and preparing for the process of monitoring of AP implementation. Meantime the discussion regarding the possible actions at regional level with the local and regional stakeholders was held as the Regional Digital Hub for Northwest Bulgaria at Automotive cluster was approved at the national competition and submitted project for funding.
The approved AP was presented to the wide circle of regional and national stakeholders on 11.11.2021 during an on-line meeting that included presentation of the changes in the action plan made by the Managing Authority in the process of updating the policy instrument and possible scenario of implementation of the foreseen indicators. The representative of the MA, Mr.Rosen Draganov announced to the participants the measures included in the Programme “ Innovation and competitiveness in enterprises” 2021-2027 and how will be implemented some measures from the National Plan for Recovery and Resilience especially the voucher system for digital solutions in SMEs.
The state expert at Directorate “Economical Policy”of the Ministry of Economy, Mrs. Tihomira Pelinkova presented the main direction for development of smart specialization for NorthWest Bulgaria for the programming period 2021-2027.It is important for all stakeholders and coordination and planning the next activities are in the center of our plan.  

Hristina Bakardzhieva from Sofia Tech Park presented to participants the new opportunities for startups and SMEs developed in 2021 and especially Export Hub BG and Club House facilities that permit to startups and SMEs from our region to use digital services and support from STP and other institutions and organizations included in implementation of initiatives.

      
The one day training for regional stakeholders for participation in monitoring of implementation of the Action Plan was held on 12.11.2021 keeping all safety requirements for COVID-19. The program included presentation of the Action plan,monitoring plan and group working for better tailoring the local initiatives and follow the implementation of the AP activities. The other module was devoted on the communication and motivation of stakeholders in situation of COVID-19 to continue working actively and be effective in working with institutions, organizations and beneficieries concerning the startups and SMEs support.
The training was very useful for us and for the participants for improvement of the communication with stakeholders and getting feedback from them, we can fix our omissions and ensure better implementation of project objectives.