Nancy McEldowney (R), United States Ambassador to Bulgaria and SAITC Chairman Plamen Vatchkov (L). Photo by Yuliana Nikolova (Sofia Photo Agency)
The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) awarded Thursday to the Bulgarian State Agency for Information and Communication Technology (SAITC), a grant aimed at fostering the development of a nationwide information and communications technology (ICT) network.
The USD 390,180 grant will fund a study that will evaluate the economic and technical feasibility of developing a network that will ultimately connect all local and national government entities, enabling Bulgaria to comply with EU administrative standards.
Nancy McEldowney, United States Ambassador to Bulgaria and SAITC Chairman Plamen Vatchkov signed the grant agreement on behalf of the US and Bulgarian governments at an official signing ceremony at the SAITC building in Sofia.
The grant is reflective of the Agency's ongoing commitment to the development of the ICT sector in Bulgaria. In the past seven years, USTDA has funded four orientation visits that brought senior Bulgarian officials to the United States to learn about cutting-edge US ICT equipment and services that could be applied in meeting Bulgaria's priorities for technological and procedural improvements in ICT infrastructure, emergency management and e-government services.
To date, over USD 18 M in US exports by Microsoft, Cisco, Tumbleweed, Hewlett Packard, and IBM for consulting and training services and various hardware and software products are attributable to the contacts made during these USTDA-sponsored visits.
The USDA advances economic development in developing and middle-income countries. The agency funds various forms of technical assistance, early investment analysis, training, orientation visits and business workshops that support the development of a modern infrastructure and a fair and open trading environment.