07.11.2013

"The National Development Programme: Bulgaria 2020 (NDP BG2020) is the leading strategic and programming document, setting the vision and the general long term objectives of the national policies in the social and economic area. It has also been reflected in the draft budget for next year by establishing the public investment programme "Growth and Sustainable Development of the Regions", Minister of Finance Petar Chobanov said at the opening of the first meeting of the Coordination Committee for Management of NDP BG2020. Minister Chobanov, who also chairs the Committee, added that the provision of national resources, in addition to European funding, would give a further stimulus for the implementation of specific sector policies. The Ministry of Finance has the ambition to make NDP BG2020 and the action plans thereto underlying documents in the process of the medium term budget forecast preparation, Minister Chobanov added.

NDP BG2020 is an integrated document, showing the link between the priorities of the EU in the context of the Europe: 2020 Strategy and the national priorities of Bulgaria. It will provide the framework for identification of the priorities for the allocation of public funds (national and European), as well as for mobilization of private financing. The Programme summarizes all strategic documents adopted, and provides coordination between the policies pursued in Bulgaria. At the end of 2012 the Development Council and then the Council of Ministers approved NDP BG2020. By recent amendments to the regulation the Council of Ministers ordered a Coordination Committee for Management, Monitoring, Control, and Implementation Reporting of NDP BG2020 to the Development Council to be set up. The format of the Committee is at deputy minister level. The Ministry of Finance Economic and Financial Policy Directorate will act as Secretariat of the Committee.

The today's meeting discussed and adopted the schedule for the drafting of the Three Year Action Plan for the NDP BG2020 implementation in the period 2014-2016 and the structure of the document, and allocated the responsibilities in the process of its preparation.