Sofia: Investment Destination and Opportunities May 18 th, 2017

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1 Sofia: Investment Destination and Opportunities May 18 th, 2017

2 Agenda Vision of Sofia Business Environment Education Foreign Direct Investments Sofia Investment Agency Promising Industries in Sofia Q&A

3 Vision of Sofia INNOVATION I RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT I TALENT CENTRE I HIGH VALUE - ADDED INDUSTRIES Source: Photographer Minko Minev Paysafe office, Sofia, Bulgaria

4 Sofia: A Smart City Great for testing new smart city solutions Local start-up eco system has a key role Looking for partners for smart city solutions in the areas of open data, and urban environment improvement

5 Sofia: A Green Capital Bike sharing service New public transit buses, including 20 electric buses by 2020 Network of charging stations Energy efficient buildings

6 Sofia at a glance Sofia (capital) is the largest regional economy in the country. 1.3 M POPULATION (2016) 52.29% OF BULGARIA S FDI 39% OF BULGARIA S GDP 25% OF BULGARIA S WORK FORCE 1/6 OF BULGARIA S INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION 49% OF RESIDENTS YEARS HOLD UNIVERSITY DEGREE

7 Business Environment Motivated labor force Incentives for investors Friendly tax system Efficient cost of doing business EU funding opportunities Half of the population is below 49 yrs. old Investment certificate C 10% company flat tax rate Available office and industrial premises Low currency risk Source:

8 Sofia Success Stories Sofia has a well-developed recruitment base of highly skilled employees, especially in the ICT sector and the creative industries More than 100 IT companies with employees

9 E d u c a t i o n Sofia is home of the most renowned state and private universities in the country Educational environment is favorable for the development of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math professionals. The intensified bridge between business and academia, results in improved planning and capacity of the human capital. Both the expertise level of ICT professionals in Sofia and the availability of human capital drastically improved in recent years. Over university students 23 universities 50% of the population holds university degree 45% of the population speaks English 63 research centers +several independent software schools

10 Foreign Direct Investments FDI in Bulgaria EURO ( ) Sofia s share of FDI 52.29% FDI in Sofia from 77 countries Top 3 origin countries: Austria, Germany, the Netherlands

11 Bulgaria and Poland Trade relations For the last 5 years, the value of bilateral trade has increased more than 2 times. Export to Poland mln. euro / 2.3% of total exports (13th place in 2015) Import to Bulgaria mln. euro / 3.1% of all imports (12nd place in 2015) FDI in Bulgaria 135 mln. euro ( ) FDI in Sofia 31 mln. euro ( )

12 Growing Start-up Eco System 12 INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS 3/4 OF INVESTMENTS IN ICT Source: 30 CONFERENCES AND EVENTS IN SOFIA BULGARIA RANKS 3rd IN EUROPE FOR ICT PROFESSIONALS PER CAPITA Source: Source:

13 Cities are in a global marketplace! For citizens, for businesses, for investments, for talent. Skyline of Sofia, Bulgaria

14 What we do Sofia Investment Agency is part of Sofia Municipality Image of Sofia & Investment promotion One stop services for foreign and local businesses Liaison between local business and local government Information, analysis, contacts with partners Investment certificate C

15 Sofia Investment Structure Supervisory Board (City Council Members) Part of the general administration of Sofia Municipality Privatization (1992) Investment (2016)

16 Privatization public auction 189 plots for 2017 Sold at public auctions Full

17 Investment Promotion Certificate Class C Requirements: Up to 2 M leva Employement for 3-5 years (1 employee) Benefts: Shortened administrative procedure Individual administrative services The right to purchase private municipal property without an auction Max 1/5 of the investment amount List of investment promotion

18 Promising Industries in Sofia

19 Questions and answers Sofia Investment Agency pl. "Petko R. Slaveykov" Sofia, Bulgaria contact@investsofia.com investsofia.com / Sofia Investment / SofiaInvestmentAgency