On October 25, the British embassy in Sofia celebrated the successful completion of the European Union Phare project Introduction of Cluster Approach and Establishing a Pilot Cluster Model in Bulgaria. The Mid-Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MYCCI), which won the tender to implement the project, hosted the reception. The event happened just a day after British home secretary John Reid announced his decision to curb the number of migrants from Bulgaria and Romania to the UK from January 1 2007.
The cluster project was aimed at enhancing Bulgaria’s business competitiveness in the EU by using the cluster model. A cluster model takes related businesses and organisations in the same geographical area and helps them co-operate and improve communication. Two pilot clusters were selected – the Rhodope tourism development cluster and Troyan furniture production cluster. MYCCI’s development manager Lora Grozeva explained that the two pilot clusters were selected on the bases of EU criteria approved by a project steering committee. Among the criteria were the level of links between stakeholders, the size of the businesses in the field and the number of universities in the geographical area of the cluster. The Information and Communications Technology sphere from the Sofia region was also within the last 10 chosen candidates for forming a cluster, but “did not quite make it”, as Grozeva revealed. The aim for those two newly formed clusters, Grozeva said, was for them to develop links between each other, and to thus enhance the productivity of the companies within it. With the completion of the EU Phare cluster project, MYCCI is convinced that its work in Bulgaria is far from over, with plans for future vocational, educational training and business support projects for firms being on the table.
Among the invitees at the embassy’s residency were project team members, the MYCCI managing body, British ambassador to Bulgaria Jeremy Hill, cluster members, and officials from the Ministry of Economy and Energy and Ministry of Finance.
