The outsourcing industry in Bulgaria is developing at a steady pace - from 2016 compared to 2017 it had encreased almost double and the same is expected in 2018 compared to 2017. This was said by Ivaylo Slavov, a newly elected chairman of the Bulgarian Outsourcing Association and CEO of Bulropes.

"Currently, over 40-45 companies are members of the association, the more interesting is not the number of the companies, but how many people work for them. Certainly over 40,000 people are employed. Almost all major companies in the industry are in our association. According to our data, we generate 3.5% of Bulgarians GDP, "he told Bloomberg TV Bulgaria.

In the outsourcing industry in Bulgaria, the 2017 ratio is 53% for business process outsourcing - services / outsourced services such as call centers and others, and 47% for IT outsourcing services. In 2016, the share was 57% to 43%; the share of IT outsourcing in the last year has increased.

According to him, the centers for shared services are one of the core for the outsourcing industry in Bulgaria.

"We will be more and more active in the trends and in the coming months we will talk about many new businesses of existing companies that are engaged in similar activities in Bulgaria as well as about the entry of new players who will also seek support in the development of things like IoT (Internet of Things) and Artificial Intelligence, "explained Slavov.

"Fortunately Bulgaria will again be among the leading countries in the field because here we have very capable people who work in this field. Our forecast for 2020 is from 3.6% to reach 4.2% of the country's GDP and we expect to have over 60,000 people employed, "the expert added.