INNOVATIVE PERFORMANCE OF BULGARIA: IMPROVING COMPETITIVENESS BY REGIONAL COOPERATION

This paper aims at analyzing the competitiveness of the Bulgarian economy by examining the linkages among the different actors of the national innovation system of the country. The article is organized in three parts. The first part reveals the weak integration of Bulgaria in the global production networks and illustrates the necessity for strong partnership among the industry, the research institutions and the governmental bodies. The second part gives the major contribution of the article by presenting a regional innovation map, which illustrates the innovation capacity of the 6 NUTS II planning regions in Bulgaria. The analysis reveals the huge disparities existing among the Bulgarian regions. The final part concludes. It proposes that Bulgaria should foster its innovative capacity by actively participating in the EU transnational and cross-border programs.