According to EU data, less than 7% of our scientists are directly involved in the manufacturing sector

Just 6.7% of the scientists in Bulgaria are employed in the manufacturing sector, given that the respective average figure in the EU is nearly 50%, and in the USA - more than 80%, showed data of the European Commission, quoted by the BTA.

According to the released information, just 0.4% of GDP is allocated for R&D in Bulgaria, and this is one of the lowest recorded levels in Europe, stated experts from the Euro Perspectives Foundation. The low figure is due to the structure of the Bulgarian economy. A significant part of the companies in the country are small and medium-sized enterprises, which do not have money for R&D activities. The large enterprises in the country are owned by foreign groups, which use them just as production units instead of R&D base. Moreover, there is no clear State policy in this field. There is a National Council for Innovation, which has not met for years, commented for Klassa Vasil Velev, Chairman of the Bulgarian Industrial Capital Association.

The Innovative Platform initiative, aimed at identifying more opportunities in this area, is expected to be launched today. The creation of the Platform is carried out under the three year project - South-East European Cooperation for Innovation and Finance. Organizations from Bulgaria, Austria, Greece, Italy, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Hungary and Croatia partake in it.

Only a small number of companies understand the importance of R&D activities for overcoming the negative effects of the current financial crisis, and those who focus on creating and storing new knowledge are even more limited in number, report experts. They say there are few young people attracted by scientific careers, which, combined with the dynamic processes of outflow of scientists from the country, leads to serious ageing of the scientific staff. A reference to the register of the academic staff of universities, supported by the Ministry of Education Youth and Science, shows that in 2008 there was no professor younger than 35 years of age and just 12 were between 35 and 44 year old. Over 600 professors (out of 1,290) were over 65 year old. There were also some 55 assistants professors, who were older than 65.

Bulgarian scientists are lagging behind in terms of publications, mostly because the career development in our country is not necessarily associated with numerous scientific publications. The publications of our scientists are not always at a high level and often are not featured by originality. The high publication costs in internationally recognized journals are an obstacle as well.

Strengthening the links between science and businesses is a major focus of the EU R&D policy. Not surprisingly, when formulating the EU objective for allocating some 3% of GDP for R&D activities, it was emphasized that two-thirds of the funds should come from the private sector.

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