Although Bulgaria has been increasing innovations spending, it has failed to derive sufficient economic growth from that, according to Deputy Prime Minister Daniela Bobeva.

Speaking Thursday at a press conference on innovations and entrepreneurship, she said that Bulgaria had an unbalanced innovations system despite the record sum of BGN 20 M earmarked for innovations in 2014.

Bobeva, as cited by investor.bg, also emphasized that the state allocated more funding to innovations than the private sector.

She added that the share of the turnover of companies generated by newly introduced goods and services was slightly less than 4%, adding that the statistics was highly unsatisfactory and that companies had to increase investments in research and development activities.

"Bulgaria is 43rd in the Global Innovations Index 2013 ranking and it is preceded by countries referred to as timid or modest as regards innovations investments, despite the fact that there has been some progress," Bobeva commented.

Petar Ivanov, a member of the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria (CEIBG), drew attention to the essential role of education for the development of innovations.

He underscored that the IT sector, which boasted the highest concentration of innovations, lacked well-trained staff.

Ivanov declared that it was impossible to imagine progress in the sphere of innovations without good education. He emphasized that education had to match the needs of the business sector and be up to date with the modern times.

Bobeva argued that it was the private sector which had to create an innovations-based economy, adding that in order for this to become possible, concrete steps and measures had to be prepared through which science, education and the private sector would start working together.

At the end of last week, Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski vowed substantial support on the part of the government to hi-tech sectors through administrative relaxations and staff.

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