Chapter 2: Bulgaria

(continued)

2.7 Assistance and Barriers to Business Development

When asked to indicate the importance of various institutions to their business development, 67 percent of respondents rated government as "very important" or "important." This likely stems from the fact that the environmental business sector strongly depends on government institutions to provide information on project opportunities. As shown in Table 2.24, financial institutions were further seen as an important source of assistance. Business or industrial associations and scientific institutions were also considered important by at least half the respondents.

TABLE 2.24: IMPORTANCE OF SELECTED SOURCES OF ASSISTANCE
Institution or organization	Responses for "Very Important" or "Important"

Government	67%
Financial institutions	62%
Business/industrial associations	52%
Scientific/academic institutions	50%
International organizations	48%
Professional training institutions	30%

Not surprisingly, when it comes to obstacles to business development, 67 percent of companies considered the lack of access to credit and finance as a barrier. As shown in Table 2.25, large percentages of survey respondents also pointed to tax regulations, market demand for environmental products and services and general access to information as significant problems they face. Interestingly, one out of three respondents also considered foreign competition as a barrier to business opportunities and development.

TABLE 2.25: PERCEIVED BARRIERS TO BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Barriers to Development	Responses for "Major Barrier" or "Barrier"

Access to credit and finance	67%
Tax regulation	66%
Market demand for products and services	54%
General access to information	54%
Legal regulations and registration requirements	49%
Environmental regulations	45%
Foreign competition	33%

REC * PUBLICATIONS * EMERGING ENVIRONMENTAL MARKET 2 * BULGARIA