Bulgaria's government and its tech sector need each other to grow, according to the main takeaway from a discussion at the SEE Forward Summit 2026 in Sofia.

The SEE Forward Summit 2026 is organised by AIBEST and brings together business people, investors and officials to discuss how competitive Bulgaria and south-east Europe are, along with digitalisation, investment and artificial intelligence. The panel "Shared visions for a digital Bulgaria" was held today at the Planet Schwarz Tech Theater.

Four people took part in the discussion: innovation and digital transformation minister Ivan Vasilev, AIBEST chairman Yordan Ginev and BRAIT chairman Iliya Krastev. They were joined by Thomas Zimmer, head of eastern Europe at DXC Technology.

Vasilev said that when he took office five months ago, he found chaos. "When I became minister five months ago, I found chaos — chaotic digital services, chaotic digital infrastructure, chaotic lines of responsibility," he said. He said until then only a small number of companies had access to public funding, but his ministry is now changing its approach to the tech sector.

The minister said a council for innovation and technology development was set up at the end of August. He will head it, and it will report directly to the prime minister. AIBEST, BRAIT, BESCO and BASSCOM, along with other groups, have been invited to join. Vasilev wants to open up data held by state bodies, which he says is a public resource and not the property of individual agencies. Among other things, the new council aims to make Bulgaria the best place to do business in the EU by 2030. "By then we'll really have digital government, in 2030," he added.

Zimmer of DXC Technology backed closer ties between business and the state, noting that government decisions affect local issues and need cooperation with local partners. He called the new council a good move, but one that's quite ahead of its time for now. He said connecting data technically isn't hard — the hard part is the laws on data ownership and management.

Ginev of AIBEST said Bulgaria's tech sector is still growing and needs help with education, infrastructure and digitalising public administration. He said Bulgaria makes its mark on the world map through its tech companies, and government and business must work together to attract and keep skilled workers.

Krastev of BRAIT criticised the pace of tech development in the country and said there is no shared vision among institutions on which way Bulgaria should go. He called on the government to act fully openly, especially when it hands out funding.

Vasilev pushed back on that, saying the prime minister is making the shift to a higher-value economy a priority. On transparency, he said steps have already been taken: the SIGMA system, which tracks public procurement, is up and running and being expanded. He said that's exactly where the problem of money being spent inefficiently has sat for years.

The minister ended by saying his ministry is open to ideas from businesses over the next 12 months, and he urged companies to come forward with active, specific proposals.