The partnership between local business and administration was discussed in an online forum

Partner forum gathered online representatives of business and municipal administration in Ruse on June 30. The occasion was the reporting of the results of Questionnaire survey among companies of different sizes and fields of activity, how do they interact with the Municipality in terms of investment promotion and economic development of the city. The study was part of the project "Promoting partnership management in the field of local economic development and improving the investment environment", financed by the Operational Program "Good Governance" 2014-2020, co-financed by the European Union through the European Social Fund, implemented by Bulgarian-Romanian Palace and Ruse Municipality.

The aim of the project is to improve dialogue and interaction between local business and local government the investment environment and the business climate in Ruse municipality. In this way, to stimulate growth and economic activity in the municipality, which in turn will affect employment, the standard of living and the local tax base.

The team of the Bulgarian-Romanian Chamber presented an analysis of the applied policies and documents in the field of local economic development in the Municipality of Ruse and the views of business on how to improve its interaction with the local government in the implementation and monitoring of policies (plans and programs) related to local economic development.

Meanwhile, during the event, The Ruse Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) present the updated investment profile of the Municipality of Ruse, which highlights new opportunities for development and economic growth. The profile, developed in cooperation with the Bulgarian-Romanian Chamber, is a tool to promote future economic activity and provides updated information that helps plan business and investment strategies. The Executive Director of RTIK, Mr. Milen Dobrev, joined the online meeting directly from the People's Republic of China, where he leads a business delegation organized by the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI).

IN the survey, held online in the period January-May 2023, involved 120 SMEs and large enterprises developing activities on the territory of Ruse municipality from 17 economic sectors. In addition, representatives of 20 companies gave more in-depth interviews, answering questions on how to improve the interaction between them and the administration and giving recommendations to ease the process.

Companies shared personal impressions of the possibilities of interaction between them and the local government. The results show that, according to nearly half of the companies (45.8%), the local government does not make sufficient efforts in the process of partnership and cooperation, while one third (29.2%) are of the exact opposite opinion. Nearly 21% of the business representatives indicate that they regularly receive information about local initiatives and have the opportunity to express opinions and opinions.

Part of the conclusions from the survey among companies:

• the interaction between business and local government, is often exhausted to inform the process of identification of significant infrastructure projects and policy formation;
• most of the companies appreciate the local government's efforts to establish the partnership and cooperation, as insufficiently efficient;
• a significant portion of local business is unaware of or has no interest in participating in the local policy formulation process in the areas of economic development, investment, local taxes and fees, and property management;
• in general, a greater part of enterprises show non-commitment and demotivation to participate in the processes of formulation and changes of local policies;

In order to overcome the challenges and difficulties in effective interaction between the administration and business, it is necessary to:

• build mutual trust between the countries;
• find common priorities and points of contact to strengthen cooperation;
• develop and implement working mechanisms for communication, including to improve feedback.

The entire analysis see the results here:

BG05SFOP001-2.025-0092-С01 "Promotion of partnership management in the field of local economic development and improvement of the investment environment", financed by the Operational Program "Good Governance" 2014-2020, co-financed by the European Union through the European Social Fund.