The guidelines on industrial policy implementation of BICA are subject to the strive for formation of business environment better than that of other European countries in order to create conditions for accelerated economic growth, and include:

• Active dialogue and collaboration with related employers’ organizations and social partners, government and public institutions in the development of positions related to the priorities in the development of Bulgarian industry:
– Development of positions at current economic measures in order to ensure the implementation of strategic priorities;
– Enhancing and enriching the activities of the established to the Minister of Economy National Economic Council and Advisory
Board for Industrial Growth and Stability with the purpose of implementation of policies and measures to promote the
development of production;
– Preparation of joint positions on procedures and implementation of projects financed with EU funds, including the National
Partnership Agreement and operational and national programs;
– Development of action plans at sectoral level;
– Active and constructive dialogue between the NCTC and the bodies built on a tripartite basis;
– Promotion of the expansion of partnership between the representative national organizations of employers and the
government through the signing of bilateral agreements on business environment and economic development.

• Improving the regulatory framework for free development of business and promoting the launch and execution of business activities:
– Development of positions in order to achieve effective public administration;
– Maximum simplification of all procedures and services administered by the Executive;
– Increase of the transparency of procedures for award of public contracts (inclusion in the Commissions on assessment of
representatives of branch organizations, extending the data entered in the register of public procurement), breaking the
relationship between the contracting authority and the body performing the ranking;
– Consultations with all stakeholders in the drafting of legislation and introduction of a preliminary assessment of their impact, including on the business environment;
– Establishment of integrated registries to free physical and legal entities from the obligation to prove the data from these
systems before the administration;
– Adherence to the “information available in one state authority shall not be required by another” principle, for example as
regards the entry of financial statements in the Commercial Register and dropping the requirement to present a certificate of conviction;
– Monitoring of the correlation between administrative regulation fees and administrative costs for their exercise;
– Application of the “presumption of tacit consent” principle – the tacit consent principle shall be introduced in the legislation
as a general rule for all cases, if not expressly stated otherwise;
– The regulatory regimes shall follow the minimum required by EU law and there shall be no complication of regulations by the Bulgarian state with standards and documents that are not required by European law.

• E-government – speeding up the activities for introduction of e-governance in order to allow the state to communicate with businesses and citizens transparently, more efficiently, improving the business environment and reducing the level of corruption.

• Effective investment of EU funds for development of the Bulgarian economy:
– Participation in the implementation of strategic documents in the 2014 – 2020 programming period of EU funding;
– Development of opinions and conducting active policies in the following areas:
◊◊ Developing the entrepreneurship, based on research, growth and innovation – Priority support for measures aimed at
the development and implementation of product and manufacturing innovation;
◊◊ Increasing the competitiveness of Bulgarian enterprises through direct measures to develop managerial capacity,
technological modernization, product diversification;
◊◊ Increasing the overall resource efficiency of businesses, including energy efficiency, optimization of human resources,
maximum utilization of material resources and recycling options, prioritizing the development of a green economy,
including introduction of new technological solutions;
◊◊ Promoting the opportunities for cooperation between businesses, including support projects to develop cluster structures,
sectoral integrated technological areas, resource-identifiable manufacturing hubs, logistics centers, etc.;
– Prioritization of sectoral policies in order to focus financial resources on strategic sectors with highlighted competitive
advantages, high value-added and export potential;
– Supporting of entrepreneurship and establishment of industrial infrastructure for sustainable development of SMEs;
– Stimulation and energetic support of entrepreneurs investing in modernization and/or development of production facilities
and processes leading to a lasting improvement of technological capabilities for efficient production, through tax incentives,
direct or indirect financial subsidies, indication of good examples, promotion of established practices, study visits at the
premises, institutional support and demonstration of a sense of national interest in statesmanlike visits abroad, respectively
reception of foreign delegations;
– Development of adequate financial instruments for growth of enterprises and assistance in providing additional resources to
existing and new instruments – both as grant opportunities and with gratuitous character;
– Development of measures to support entrepreneurship through exchange with international partners through participation in European projects;
– Participation in the development of qualification criteria for projects funded under operational programs.

• Improving the conditions for competitiveness:
– Limiting pillaging and mismanagement in the Bulgarian energy sector and reducing electricity prices for the industry, including
finding a solution to the problems created by long-term contracts for electricity generated by the so-called “American” plants;
– Ensuring the irreversibility of the reform process in the energy sector – overcoming deficits and imbalances in the sector,
construction of adequate energy infrastructure and reducing energy dependence;
– Development of opinions, coordination of legislative and regulatory initiatives and active application of positions in electricity
pricing:
◊◊ Control over the administratively determined price components, in particular the determination of the “public service
obligations” component, including monitoring of the functioning of the security of power system fund;
◊◊ Control over commercial practices of electricity producers, traders and distribution system operators in order to ensure open, fair market mechanisms – priority application of commercial transactions through the platforms of Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange JSC;
– Institutional and organizational strengthening of the established “Economy into the Light” National Centre.
– Promoting measures for rapid implementation of administrative and criminal sanctions for infringements in order to limit the grey economy and corruption;
– Effective regulation of monopolistic activities and effective implementation of the legal provision requiring monopolistic
companies, public service providers and government entities to disclose information as public companies, including through
the strengthening of the Financial Supervision Commission;
– Supporting national political resources to resist the introduction of such common European policies, including tax
harmonization within the European Union, depriving the economy of competitive advantages;
– Establishment of clear rules and conditions for the implementation of public-private partnership with a view to expanding
business participation in the financing and construction of objects of public state and municipal property through concessions
and other forms of collaboration;
– Participation in the development of measures to overcome the intercompany indebtedness, including by increasing the
efficiency of the judicial system and bankruptcy procedures;
– Targeting national and international financing, supporting small and medium enterprises in areas agreed by the social partners.

• Promoting the export of Bulgarian goods and services:
– Economizing the foreign policy, i.e. conformity and subordination to the national economic interest;
– The Services on trade and economic issues relevant to overseas missions shall be fully available to Bulgarian business, with
annual activity plans attested by the employers’ organizations;
– Development and implementation of a systematic program of awareness of business opportunities for successful implementation of Bulgarian goods and services in foreign markets;
– Targeting of funds for targeted funding of small and medium enterprises in their initiatives for implementation of Bulgarian
goods and services in foreign markets;
– Promoting the implementation of schemes to guarantee loans to export-oriented companies.

• Fourth industrial revolution. BICA is seriously concerned by the lack of understanding and ambition for adequate positioning of the Bulgarian industry for more active participation in the fourth industrial revolution. Our country is placed last in the group of “wavering” countries, and the assessment is that Bulgaria is unable to guarantee the future of its economy. BICA will work actively for:
– Promotion of the European documents and programs for supporting the digitization of production and services with the
aim of active involvement of Bulgarian industry in the fourth industrial revolution;
– Development of a national strategy for Bulgaria’s place in the fourth industrial revolution and the overall digital market;
– Intensification of the international contacts to include Bulgarian companies in the composition of international consortia for
supporting the digitization of industry and services that will also be supported by funds under the Horizon 2020 programme.
We guide the interest of software services to industrial applications;
– Attraction of foreign investors in manufacturing and services for assistance and leadership in the introduction of technologies
of the fourth industrial revolution;
– Attraction of nationally represented industry organizations to issue a common MANIFESTO for the development of Bulgarian industry;
– Cooperation with social partners to peacefully solve the problems arising from the change of traditional business models and
the possible export of value added from industry to services;
– Active implementation of the European Action Plan for eGovernment on the digitization of public services;