Cait O'Riordan: Sofia is an irresistible destination for such an investment
The Financial Times opened an office in Sofia. By the end of the year, 130 employees will be responsible for engineering, development, design and economic analysis.
"The choice of Sofia by one of the most prestigious business media in the world means great trust and opportunities," said at the opening the Mayor of Sofia, Yordanka Fandakova.
The event was attended by Cait O'Riordan, chief product and information officer at FT, who told us about the choice of Sofia: "Before deciding on Bulgaria, we were looking at various possible locations for this office - in Asia, Europe and the UK. The long-standing reputation of Sofia as a technology center, along with the development of the data industries, artificial intelligence, the revival of Sofia as the capital of technology in the Balkans - all this makes your city an irresistible destination for such an investment. Our teams in Sofia are the driver in the key areas. We continue to invest in Sofia - we intend to expand our business here by building a new team that will work for FT's specialized editions. We hoped the city would provide us with talented people who would help us transform FT. The reality exceeded our expectations. Your dedication and energy are very exciting and I cannot wait to see what else we can achieve together." "As a media, we are digitally oriented. Over ¾ of our readers are subscribers to our digital platform, and Sofia will play a central role in achieving growth in this direction”, said Cait O'Riordan. Educational initiatives are also part of the editorial policy of FT world-wide. "FT has educational initiatives for high school students from the upper grades, to whom we provide free access to the publication. Thus, we nurture the next generation of FT employees and readers. Furthermore, we find other ways to contribute to education by working with schools, clubs, universities, organizing events with students”, also said Cait O'Riordan.
Sofia also received the Business City Award in the national ranking of Darik Radio. "This award is for the people of Sofia, the talented, enterprising and educated young people, because the big companies come here thanks to them. At a meeting of the Council of Ministers, an agreement between Bulgaria and the World Bank was approved, as it also will open an office in Sofia. This is an opportunity and a future for the young, educated people of our city”, said Mayor Fandakova.
The priority of Sofia Municipality is to attract investment in public infrastructure and education.
According to the latest FDi Intelligence survey, Sofia is among the most attractive locations for international investment in the next two years.
Sofia ranks 28th out of a total of 283 European regions included in the index of jobs requiring intellectual activity. In 2018, Sofia ranked 18th out of 400 world regions with high proficiency in English, which is also important for attracting international companies to the capital.
Photographer: Geo Kalev
