The Bulgarian city of Stara Zagora has been awarded in three categories in fDi Intelligence's rankings for European Cities and Regions of the Future 2024, the Municipality of Stara Zagora said on its website. fDi Intelligence is an English-language bi-monthly news and foreign direct investment publication, published by the Financial Times.
Stara Zagora is the only Bulgarian city in the Micro European Cities of the Future 2024 category to have implemented strategies to encourage foreign investment. Stara Zagora ranks fifth out of ten and is presented in the category for the first time. Ireland, Latvia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina also have their representatives in the category.
The Stara Zagora Region moved up one place to take the second place in the top 10 in the "Small European Regions of the Future 2024 - Cost Effectiveness" category, ahead of Burgas, Varna, Plovdiv and Sofia, which remain in third, fifth, sixth and seventh place, respectively.
Stara Zagora was also awarded in the "Small European Regions of the Future 2024" category. Among those included in the same category are also regions in Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Scotland, Croatia and Switzerland.
Stara Zagora’s rankings are based on the results achieved by the region. Since 2022, the region has been increasing its attractiveness. One of the reasons for the city's prestigious rankings is the hard work of both the Investment Department and the Zagora Industrial Zone in attracting investment in recent years, as well as the launch of a project under which Stara Zagora Municipality is a beneficiary to build a comprehensive communication strategy to improve the attractiveness of the city and the region as an investment destination, the Municipality's post further reads.
In 2023, Stara Zagora was ranked by the Financial Times as a promising investment destination in Europe.