Europe must continue to maintain its leading position in space technology and innovation, increase its share of world markets and take advantage of the opportunities that space policy development provides. This was stated by the Minister of Economy Emil Karanikolov during the official opening of the Regional Seminar "Space Based Services for Development of Regional Strategies in the Digital Economy: Balkan and Black Sea Prospects".

Minister Karanikolov explained that with the signing of the European Cooperative Country Agreement and participation in the European Cooperative Country Plan 2015, Bulgaria has increased its development potential for SMEs and has improved the prospects for investing in the space industry. He added that a total of 34 project proposals have been submitted so far, out of which a total of 14 projects have been approved. "Since the first tender procedure for ESA for Bulgaria, 5 projects have been implemented and the second group of approved projects are 9, which are currently in the contracting stage." The third tender procedure for Bulgaria was opened on 12 February 2018 and ended on 13 April 2018 "As expected, the number of approved project proposals will be increased," Karanikolov said.

The Minister of Economy said the projects developed under the ESA's programs demonstrated opportunities to support policies for blue growth, agriculture, water management and security and stability. In his words, space services and activities contribute significantly to the development of the digital economy by providing innovative services and large volumes of data.