News

NSI published an electronic newsletter about the Institute’s international activities in 2023. The newsletter was prepared by the “International Relations and Projects” Department in Bulgarian and English and contains information and photographic material about the participation of the NSI management in high-level forums and meetings within the European Statistical System and other international statistical organizations, as well as concerning the development of regional and bilateral cooperation.

The President of the National Statistical Institute Assoc. Prof. Atanas Atanasov, PhD welcomed experts from the statistical institutes of Türkiye, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Albania on a three-day study visit in Sofia. The visit is organized under the IPA 2019 Multi-beneficiary statistical cooperation programme which aims to prepare the statistical authorities of the Western Balkan countries and Türkiye for future EU membership. The project is funded by Eurostat and is implemented in consortium with the German consultancy company GOPA Worldwide Consultants GmbH.

Within the framework of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU, the President of the NSI Assoc. Prof. Atanas Atanasov, PhD participated in a high-level meeting of the heads of the National Statistical Institutes of the European Statistical System /ESS/, which was held in Seville from 27 to 28 November 2023. The main topic of the discussions was “Integration and Interoperability Strategies for Modernizing Official Statistics”.

“It is necessary to build a system that combines different sources of data on children in vulnerable groups – administrative registers, surveys and others, to obtain a diverse range of information such as level of education, labor market participation, health status, housing conditions and etc. Regarding mobility, cooperation between countries also needs to be improved. At the same time, personal data privacy issues must be considered.” This was stated by the President of the NSI Assoc. Prof.

On November 23, 2023, Svilen Kolev, PhD, Deputy President of the NSI took part in a meeting of the Working Group on Exchange of Statistical Data and Economic Information of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), which was held in virtual format.

The two stages of NSI’s seminar for sharing good practices and discussing the preparation of the upcoming 7th European Statistics Competition for students, which will be held in 2024 under the auspices of Eurostat ,were held on 17-19 November in Pazardzhik and enjoyed great interest. More than 120 teachers from all over the country gathered with the desire to work with their students to increase their interest in statistics, and to develop their creative skills through participation in NSI initiatives at the national and international level.

The President of NSI Assoc. Prof. Atanas Atanasov, PhD held a meeting with H.E. Huseyn Huseynov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Sofia and Mr. Chingiz Garibli, First Secretary of the Embassy. The visit was of informative nature and the guests showed interest in statistical data on population and demographic processes, business statistics and macroeconomic indicators for the country.

On 10 November 2023, at a special ceremony held at the National Statistical Institute, the President of NSI Assoc. Prof. Atanas Atanasov, PhD awarded the winners of the 2nd National Statistical Essay Competition for students from 9th to 12th grade. This year’s competition was launched on 20 October – the European Statistics Day, and the topic students had to write on was “Possibilities of using AI for the production of statistical information”.

“Education is the key to overcoming society’s problems, as it affects all its aspects – from overcoming poverty to reducing crime rates. Education is the investment with highest benefit because the efforts made for the personal development of a child have an affect on his/her whole life. Institutions must work together to solve problems and their focus must be on the child”. This was said by the President of the National Statistical Institute Assoc. Prof.

The President of the NSI, Assoc. Prof. Atanas Atanasov, PhD participated in the 108th Annual Conference of the Directors General of the National Statistical Institutes (DGINS), which is held in Cork, Ireland on the 18th and 19th of October 2023. The topic for this year’s conference is „Official statistics in the emerging data ecosystems: opportunities and challenges in the context of climate change and energy crises“. It is hosted by Eurostat and the Central Statistical Office of Ireland.