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According to the Bulgarian Ministry of Finance, the outsourcing, electronics, and information technology industries have the greatest potential for further growth. On Monday the 8th of August, 2011, the Economic Analysis and Forecasts Directorate of the Finance Ministry released a report that reviewed the performance of the real sectors within the Bulgarian economy during the 2008 - 2010 period, outlining those with the greatest potential to further expansion.

The analysis also summarized economic data such as profit, return on capital and capital growth of the different sectors, identifying the sectors with the highest profit margins and the highest labor productivity, as compared to their EU-27 counterparts.

The results of the study are not surprising. The country has been investing in technical education for many years. Compared to the year 2006/2007 the total number of students in Bulgaria enrolled in the 4-year-long tertiary education in 2010/2011 increased by 10% to 285,000 students, and in the computing field by a whopping 29% to over 8,000 students.

The report discusses the impact of the 2008 world economic crisis on the real sectors of the economy, but it affected services and the high-tech sector as well. According to Bulgaria’s National Statistical Institute, the economic downturn caused the government to cut its R&D budget by 8.2% in 2010, which amounted to 100 million euros.

The share of R&D spending in the GDP has also decreased from 0.35% to 0.28%. This puts Bulgaria way below the average ratio of 0.75%, calculated for 27 European economies.  Yet the Bulgarian government is more committed than ever to the improvement of education. Its spending in 2010 for research in the field of education more than doubled from 5.6 million euros to 12.1 million euros. As the news settles in regarding the most attractive economic sectors, it is likely that further investment in the quality of Bulgarian technical education will follow.