Minister of Innovation and Growth Milena Stoycheva and Ambassador of Croatia HE Jasna Ognianovac discussed cooperation in the field of creative industries, startups and entrepreneurship. Minister Stoycheva and HE Ognianovac highlighted the good traditional partnership between Bulgaria and Croatia in areas such as economy, culture and education and discussed opportunities for development of bilateral cooperation in the field of innovation, high technologies and research and development.
“The Ministry of Innovation and Growth recognizes as a leader the development of innovation in sectors with high added value for our economy. Among them are the IT sector, high technologies, microelectronics, mechatronics, bioeconomy, biotechnology, culture and creative industries, circular economy,” Stoycheva said.
One of the highlights of the meeting was the development of the entrepreneurial and startup ecosystem. His Excellency Ognianovac said that it is very well developed in Croatia, with a number of start-ups that are already “unicorns” – valued at over $1 billion.
Minister Stoycheva presented to the Croatian ambassador one of the ministry’s objectives: transforming the region into an innovation hub. The aim is to strengthen cooperation between the Balkan countries, as well as the region as a whole, in the field of new technologies, digitalization, scientific achievements, entrepreneurial ecosystem and startups. Both sides stressed that they would work in close cooperation on this issue and support young people in Bulgaria and Croatia.