At Invets Bulgaria.com we strongly believe that the Bulgarian agriculture sector is the hottest sector in Bulgaria today! The Bulgarian agriculture sector is quickly rebuilding itself after it fell into decline in the early 1990's. As the country has entered the European Union in 2007, there are vast opportunities for major exports into the EU market. Agricultural land is relatively cheap at some areas and is suitable for many cultures. In addition, Bulgaria has a long tradition in agriculture and that also makes for a a solid foundation of successful agricultural ventures.
Directly connected with agriculture - the Food and Beverage sector has a tremendous potential! With is fertile soils, strong traditions, and favorable climate Bulgaria is a great location for production of food and bevarage.
Outsourcing to Europe or the Western world was not considered a possibility until recently. Many countries in Eastern Europe have started to offer outsourcing services lately and are the preferred partner for companies based out of Western Europe and the US.
One of the main reasons in favor of outsourcing to Eastern Europe and Bulgaria in particular is that cultural differences in the way business is executed are minor. Moreover, the distance to Bulgaria from anywhere else in Europe is not more than 2 or 3 hours by plane. [ More ]
Bulgaria is
rapidly becoming a modern country. The construction business is
booming in Bulgaria. For the last 10 years the faces of most of the
major cities have changed completely. There is a tremendous
potential in new construction as costs are quite low compared to
Western European standards and the quality is world class. In
addition, there are plenty of infrastructure projects being
realized. Residential, commercial and industrial construction offer
tons of interesting opportunities throughout the country.
It its great majority, healthcare in Bulgaria is still largely dominated by government. There has been little or no competition in many areas of healthcare services and the opportunities are vast.
Government interference with healthcare in Bulgaria has naturally caused massive problems in the sector. Thus the Bulgarian health care sector continues to faces huge problems - abuse with funding, understaffing, supply shortages, brain drain, bribes to doctors and nurses for better treatment, high debts and chronic lack of money.
Tourism is
the fastest growing sector in the Bulgarian economy with excellent opportunities for foreign investment with high return on investment ratios. Already, the Black sea and the ski resorts are attracting massive foreign investment interest. The beautiful nature, the abundance of natural resources, and the rapidly improving infrastructure are creating numerous possibilities for better than average investment returns.
In general, Bulgaria still lacks modern facilities for the waste management and recycling. Separate collection of garbage has recently been introduced but is still to prove effective. Sofia itself is struggling with the amount of waste that it produces and is planning to build a waste management plant in the coming years.
Tons of opportunities exist in this Bulgarian sector as most of the cities and towns in Bulgaria use rather old methods of dealing with their waste. We consider the Bulgarian waste management sector as one of the most promising sectors in Bulgaria today and expect that recycling will develop rapidly during the foreable future. The country is yet to implement modern ways of waste treatment and investors can find plenty of opportunities here.
The property boom of Bulgaria during the last 10 years is cooling fast. Prices are dropping. Builders are going bankrupt. Massive malinvestments in the sector are being corrected and will likely continue to correct in the comming years. We do expect that investment in Bulgarian real estate will again become very attractive as bargains are everywhere.
Still, property in Bulgaria, by Western European standards is still relatively inexpensive. Bulgaria has so much to offer it is not surprising it is quickly getting more popular as an alternative country for property investment from the traditional European destinations.
Due to the
strong Bulgarian education system there is a solid talented and
skilled workforce in Bulgaria. There are many small and medium sized
software companies that produce world class quality software
solutions at a cost that compared to the rest of Europe are indeed
very reasonable. It all plays out very well in favor for the
Bulgarian software makers, who offer quality, flexibility, cultural
compatibility, and reliability to Western customers. Establishing
production or R&D centers in Bulgaria also offer a very attractive
value proposition to investors.
You would not
believe the number of companies in this Bulgarian sector and and the
quality and the range of textile products that the produce. There is
an abundance of experienced and skilled workforce in this sector. In
addition, the proximity and the free trade status with the Western
European market attract the interest of many worldwide brands to
establish production facilities. There is still a great potential in
this rapidly growing Bulgarian sector.
Great cost
benefits, language skills, skilled manpower availability,
reliability and security, digital infrastructure, appropriate
time-zone, and cheap office space are just some of the factors that
make the investment environment in this sector very appealing. What
is a real benefit is this business is that the average service
center operators will be likely to have a college degree and be
punctual and dedicated to the work.
Similar to healthcare, education in Bulgaria is still largely dominated by the Bulgarian government. There has been little or no competition in many areas of education services and the opportunities are vast! Quality private kindergardens, primary and secondary schools, or quality private universities are in huge demand in Bulgaria as there are many people who seek alternatives to government provided education! For example, the only non-government financed university in Bulgaria - the American University in Bulgaria - is currently considered to be by far the best educational institution of higher learning in Bulgaria.
Government interference with education in Bulgaria has naturally caused massive problems in the sector. Thus the Bulgarian education sector continues to face huge problems - fixed curriculums subject to government approval, abuse with funding, understaffing, little alternative in schooling, brain drain, high debts and chronic lack of money.
Bulgaria is rapidly modernizing its infrastructure. It is expected that during the next 10 years all of the Bulgarian highways will be completed. Serious government spending is taking place in this sector.
With the expected increase of interest and investment in commodities worldwide, the Bulgarian Mining and Exploration sector is back in the spotlight! The Bulgarian mining industry forms up to 5% of the country's GDP and provides direct employment to approximately 30,000, and through related industries to about 120,000. A total of 23 million tones of natural resources are registered in the country.
The sector is expected to grow significantly in the next years. Currently, the industry employs more than 50 000 people, generates revenues of € 1.05 BN and is closely related with other industries like electronics and electrical engineering. There has been a significant relocation of some manufacturing activities (both equipment and assembly) from developed countries to the lower-cost Bulgaria.