Priorities of the Regional Development Plan

The National Regional Development Plan is a major mechanism for regional policy implementation and for the delivery of direct internal and external resources to the northwestern region, of which Vidin is a part. The completion of the second Danube River Bridge and the upgrading of the Sofia - Vidin rail route, as units of the national transportation system and inherent structural elements of European road and rail route networks, are also mentioned in the updated Program 2001 of the government. The support of regions with high unemployment rates by encouraging local business projects is amongst the priorities of the government program. The development of the northwest region is recognized as a priority, part of the financial memorandum of the Phare 2000 Program.

The priorities included in the Regional Development Plan, together with the processing industry, tourism and services, are the following:

• Development of effectively functioning agriculture;
• Revival of the traditional agricultural sectors, including vine growing, production of vegetables and fruits, cereals and fodder. A priority for the region is also the greenhouse vegetable production;
• Development of livestock breeding through improved selection.

The future development of agriculture in the Vidin district should be bound with the favorable conditions for the development of the processing industry. The existing infrastructure and the traditions in the field of agricultural produce processing give competitive advantages to the region.

For the implementation of these priorities, the Vidin district relies on the optimistic attitude of entrepreneurs (40% of them plan to achieve company growth), on the qualified labor force and on new investments in the region, based on the targeted regional policy of the Bulgarian government.

Priorities under PHARE and SAPARD

The priority sectors in the Vidin district under the SAPARD Program are agriculture and the processing industry, including:

Encouragement of investments in private farms in the fields of:
Vine Growing
Vegetables and Perennial Plants Growing
Dairy Industry
Livestock Breeding
Forestry

Improvement of company marketing strategies and processing techniques in the fields of:
Wine Production
Canning Industry
Dairy Products
Meat Processing
Wood Processing

In the framework of the Phare 2000 - 2001 Program for Economic and Social Cohesion, the priority areas include:

• Promotion of SMEs through raising the quality of production and restructuring;
• Human resource development though improvement of educational levels and qualifications;
• Business-related infrastructural improvements - roads, communications, etc.