2. Sofia, March 25, 2003 BULGARIA, BRITAIN AND THE LISBON AGENDA: STRATEGIES FOR RAISING EMPLOYMENT AND PRODUCTIVITY

3. THE LISBON GOAL: COMPETITIVENESS AND GROWTH   Growth   Employment   Productivity THE KEY WORDS: To make the EU the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by the year 2010, capable of sustainable economic growth, with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. THE KEY MECHANISMS FOR IMPLEMENTING THE LISBON STRATEGY: Combining short-term political initiatives and medium-term and long-term economic reforms by the Open Method of Coordination   Benchmarking based on qualitative and quantitative indicators   Translation of European guidelines into national and regional policies   Setting of specific timetables. Actions

4. THE LISBON STRATEGY: DIMENSIONS OF COMPETITIVENESS   Information Society for All   European Area for Research and Innovation   Completing the Single Market Competition State aid regulation Services and Network Industries: Telecommunications. Utilities and Transportation   Efficient and Integrated Financial Markets   Strengthening Entrepreneurship Conditions for Start-ups Regulatory Burden SMEs Development   Social Inclusion Labor Market Flexibility Workplace Incentives   Sustainable development Environment Climate Change

5. BULGARIA – BENCHMARKING THE COMPETITIVENESS

6. INFORMATION SOCIETY FOR ALL Two best performing EU countries – Sweden – 56; Norway - 50 Two worst performing EU countries – Portugal – 11; Greece - 8 Two best performing accession countries – Slovenia – 27; Estonia –17 Two worst performing accession countries – BULGARIA -4; Romania –3 Personal Computers, 2001 /per 100 inhabitants/ Source: International Telecommunication Union, July 2002

7. INFORMATION SOCIETY FOR ALL Two best performing EU countries – Norway – 5 962; Sweden – 5 162 Two worst performing EU countries – Spain – 18 27; Greece – 1 321; Two best performing accession countries – Slovenia – 3 007; Estonia – 3 004 Two worst performing accession countries – Latvia – 723; Romania – 446, BULGARIA - 746 Internet Users, 2001 /per 10 000 inhabitants/

8. INFORMATION SOCIETY FOR ALL Two best performing EU countries – Finland – 1 707; Netherlands –1 634 Two worst performing EU countries – France – 132; Italy - 117 Two best performing accession countries –Estonia - 356; Czech Republic - 209 Two worst performing accession countries – BULGARIA -33; Romania –20 Internet Hosts, Per 10 000 inhabitants, 2001 Source: International Telecommunication Union, July 2002

9. EUROPEAN AREA FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION Two best performing EU countries – Sweden – 3.76; Finland – 3.31 Two worst performing EU countries – Portugal – 0.63; Greece – 0.48 EU mean – 0.67 Two best performing accession countries – Slovenia – 1.47; Czech Republic – 1.27 Two worst performing accession countries – BULGARIA 0.61; Latvia – 0.40 Research and Development Spending, 2000, as a% of GDP Source: World Development Indicators 2002, WB

10. EUROPEAN AREA FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION Two best performing EU countries –Finland – 83.31; Norway – 65.24 Two worst performing EU countries – Ireland – 45.29; Portugal – 44.60 Two best performing accession countries – Slovenia – 53.34; Latvia – 50.93, Two worst performing accession countries – Czech Rep. – 26.11; Romania – 24.43 BULGARIA – 42.67 Tertiary enrolment rate

11. EUROPEAN AREA FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION Two best performing EU countries –Belgium – 5.9; Austria – 5.9 Two worst performing EU countries –Norway –4.3; Portugal – 3.5 Two best performing accession countries – Czech Republic – 6; Slovak Republic – 5.9 Two worst performing accession countries – Latvia – 5.1; Poland – 4.9 BULGARIA – 5.1 Quality of math and science /qualitative indicator/

12. EUROPEAN AREA FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION Two best performing EU countries –Finland – 5.9; Sweden – 5.4 Two worst performing EU countries – Portugal – 3.4; Italy – 3.4 Two best performing accession countries – Czech Republic – 4.1; Hungary – 3.9 Two worst performing accession countries – Lithuania – 3.1 BULGARIA – 2.5 University/industry research collaboration /qualitative indicator/

13. COMPLETING THE SINGLE MARKET Two best performing EU countries – Germany – 5.7; United Kingdom – 5.7 Two worst performing EU countries – France – 4.7; Portugal – 4.5 Two best performing accession countries – Hungary –5.2; Czech Republic –5.1 Two worst performing accession countries –Slovak Republic – 4.4; Romania – 3.7 BULGARIA – 4.4 Intensity of local competition /qualitative indicator/

14. COMPLETING THE SINGLE MARKET Two best performing EU countries –Finland – 4.6; Ireland – 4.6 Two worst performing EU countries – Greece – 3.0; Germany – 2.5 Two best performing accession countries – Hungary – 4.1; Czech Republic – 3.8 Two worst performing accession countries –BULGARIA – 2.5; Romania – 1.7 Extent of distortive government subsidies /qualitative indicator/ Source: GCR, 2002-2003

15. COMPLETING THE SINGLE MARKET TELECOMMUNICATIONS Two best performing EU countries –Sweden – 73.91; Denmark – 72.33 Two worst performing EU countries –Spain – 43.11; Portugal – 42.68 Two best performing accession countries – Slovenia – 40.09; Czech Republic – 37.43 Two worst performing accession countries – Slovak Republic – 28.80; Romania – 18.28 BULGARIA – 35.94 Telephone lines, 2001 Per 100 inhabitants

16. EFFICIENT AND INTEGRATED FINANCIAL MARKETS Two best performing EU countries –UK – 6.8; Netherlands – 6.0 Two worst performing EU countries – Austria – 4.2; Greece – 3.9 Two best performing accession countries – Estonia – 4.8; Hungary – 4.5 Two worst performing accession countries – Romania –2.6; BULGARIA – 2.1 Financial market sophistication /qualitative indicator/ Source: GCR, 2002-2003

17. EFFICIENT AND INTEGRATED FINANCIAL MARKETS Two best performing EU countries –UK – 5.5; Finland – 5.2 Two worst performing EU countries – Italy – 3.8; Greece – 3.3 Two best performing accession countries – Estonia – 3.8; Hungary –Lithuania – 3.7 Two worst performing accession countries –BULGARIA – 2.5; Romania – 2.5 Venture Capital availability /qualitative indicator/ Source: GCR, 2002-2003

18. STRENGTHENING ENTREPRENEURSHIP CONDITIONS FOR START-UPS Two best performing EU countries – Denmark – 3; Ireland - 3 Two worst performing EU countries – Italy – 13; Greece - 16 Two best performing accession countries – Latvia – 7; Slovenia - 9 Two worst performing accession countries – Poland – 11; Slovak Republic – 11 BULGARIA – 10.0 Number of procedures to start a business, 2002

19. STRENGTHENING ENTREPRENEURSHIP CONDITIONS FOR START-UPS Two best performing EU countries – Denmark – 3; United Kingdom - 5 Two worst performing EU countries – Italy – 64; Netherlands 72 Two best performing accession countries – Latvia – 11; BULGARIA - 30 Two worst performing accession countries –Hungary - 66; Czech Republic - 89 Number of days to start a business, 2002 Source: Doing business, World Bank

20. STRENGTHENING ENTREPRENEURSHIP CONDITIONS FOR START-UPS Two best performing EU countries – Sweden – 0.70; Finland – 1.01 Two worst performing EU countries – Italy –22.50; Greece - 55 Two best performing accession countries – Lithuania – 4.89; Czech Republic – 5.30 Two worst performing accession countries – Romania – 32.54; Hungary – 66.72 BULGARIA – 7.92 Cost of starting new business relative to GDP per capita, 2002

21. SOCIAL INCLUSION Two best performing EU countries –Netherlands – 3.3; Portugal – 3.3 Two worst performing EU countries – Sweden – 2.0; Italy – 1.8 Two best performing accession countries – Romania – 7; Czech Republic – 5.5 Two worst performing accession countries – Lithuania – 3.3; Slovenia – 2.3 BULGARIA – 4.0 Labor Market Flexibility /qualitative indicator/

22. SOCIAL INCLUSION Two best performing EU countries –Finland – 5.7; UK – 5.6 Two worst performing EU countries – Italy – 4.0; Greece – 3.7 Two best performing accession countries – Hungary – 5.2; Latvia – 5.0 Two worst performing accession countries – Slovak Republic – 4.2; BULGARIA – 3.4 Workplace incentives /qualitative indicator/ Source: GCR, 2002-2003

23. BULGARIA – NATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS BALANCE SHEET BALANCE SHEET   Tertiary enrolment   Quality of math and science education   Quality of scientists and engineers   Telephone lines   Irregular payments   Number of days to start a business   Total costs of starting a business   Flexibility of wage determination   Pay and productivity   Corporate income tax rate NOTABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES NOTABLE COMPETITIVE DISADVANTAGES   University/industry research collaboration   FDI and technology transfer   Firm level technology absorption   Personal computers   Brain drain   Property rights   Judicial independence   Financial market sophistication   Ease of access to credit   Investment rate   Extend of marketing   Extent of staff training

24. NATIONAL POLICIES

26. INNOVATION   Development of the HiTech sector – declared as a priority in the economic policy   Project for “Innovation Strategy for Bulgaria”   E-Government   Institutions ICT Development Agency Coordinating Center for Information, Communication and Management Technology   Microsoft Products in Bulgarian Language   Business incubators etc.

27. STRENGTHENING ENTREPRENEURSHIP. REGULATORY FRAMEWORK Legislative and Other Initiatives for Facilitating Business   Reducing administrative barriers and licensing regimes for starting new business - 74 – abolished; 120 – alleviated; Draft law on Legislative Acts and Administrative Procedure   Improvement of Public Procurement Orders Regulation - Act for amendments to the Public Procurement Orders Act - adopted   Regulation of Bankruptcy Procedures and Procedures for Collecting Receivables   Reform of the Judiciary System - Strategy and Program; Judiciary System Act   Combating Corruption – Strategy and Program, Commission for combating corruption   Administrative Reform and Support for Business - Strategy for Public Administration: Modernization from Accession to Integration; One stop Shop

28.   Improvement of the Protection of Competition - Act on amendments to the Act on Protection of Competition   More Transparency on State Aid - State Aid Act   Strategy and Program for SMEs development   Telecommunication Strategy – updated CONCLUSION: Legislative amendments and administrative changes - expected to:   Further harmonise Bulgaria’s competition policies with those of the EU   Strengthen market behaviour of economic agents   Improve business climate   Increase inflow of foreign direct investment

29. ACTIONS

30. SUPPORTIVE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT   Structuring Government policy within the global trends   Ensuring a stable macro-economic environment   Improving business climate.   Promoting competition   Stimulating new companies and new industries   Stimulating companies to invest in R&D   Encouraging business to collaborate more effectively

31. PROPOSED ACTIONS   Proactive competitiveness promotion policy   Strategy for increasing competitiveness   Program /action plan for increasing competitiveness/   Competitiveness Council – developing and monitoring the overall competitiveness policy   Analyzing the regional competitiveness   Proactive industrial policy – regional and sector approach   Creative dialogue engaging government and business groups. Cluster development