Merely 25% of VAT revenue to be generated by the innovation sector

nikoleta.cvetkova@klassa.bg


Merely 25% of VAT revenue is generated by the innovation sector, announced Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism, Traicho Traikov at the seventh National Innovation Forum entitled Innovation and Competitiveness. He explained that the average of this indicator for EU member-states is 45%. The achievement of an economically efficient high VAT rate is actually preconditioned by the level of innovation activities and the level of capital intensity.

"Against the background of a total of 2.5 million employed Bulgarians, a mere 500,000 specialists operate in the IT sector," specified the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works, Rosen Plevneliev during the Forum. According to him, Bulgaria should not compete with countries generating low VAT revenue because this will hinder the development of our economy.

"We use the taxpayers' money to grant scholarships to Bulgarian students in order to provide them with good education, while they leave to study and work abroad. Is this inefficient practice observed in Bulgarian football too? Fortunately, there are transfers of players," explained the Prime Minister, Boyko Borissov, while drawing a parallel between the situation in Bulgarian education and football. ''Is it right for a student whose education was state-subsidised for years on end to leave our country without having any commitment to the state?,'' asked Borissov.

According to the Minister of Education, Youth and Science, Sergey Ignatov, the issue has another side relating to the future jobs that students would find in Bulgaria. He acknowledged that providing an education is too expensive. ''And then, indeed, if our young people go abroad, we must really think how to change the educational system. This could happen as a result of the amendment to the Higher Education Act currently drawn up by us, added he.

The Prime Minister also proposed for the number of foreign students to be increased and foreign graduates to be "sold abroad", figuratively speaking. According to him, we have to assess whether it is economically efficient for Bulgaria to provide education to more foreign students who, after their graduation, will be "sold" abroad, thus abstaining from investing in future foreign graduates who will not remain in order to work in our country. "We must, more quickly and dynamically, think and work in order to have a flexible economy,'' recommend Borissov.

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