The NSI training course under the Bulgarian Development Aid programme was successfully completed

With excellent results on the final exam, young statisticians from five Western Balkan countries and Bulgaria completed the training course organized by the National Statistical Institute (NSI) of Bulgaria under the project “Developing the administrative capacity of the National Statistical Offices of the Western Balkan partner countries through training of young statisticians with a view to assisting them in the EU accession process”, within the framework of the Bulgarian Development Aid programme of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

At a special ceremony, the President of the NSI, Assoc. Prof. Atanas Atanasov, PhD personally presented the certificates for successful completion of the course to the young experts from the statistical offices of Albania, the Republic of Serbia, the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Bulgaria. “I am proud to say that through this initiative, organized within the framework of the Bulgarian Development Programme, the NSI can continue to support the professional development of young statisticians from the Western Balkans. Your active participation demonstrates the values of these partnerships and the shared commitment of our region to high-quality, reliable and comparable statistics,” said Assoc. Prof. Atanas Atanasov, PhD in his closing speech.

Over the course of 40 academic hours, leading experts from the NSI Bulgaria shared their knowledge and experience with the participants, presenting best practices in the development and implementation of statistical surveys for monitoring macroeconomic stability, business statistics, labour and financial markets, regional statistics, innovation, and economic integration within the European Union. The NSI’s experience in the dissemination of statistical information and communication with various stakeholders was also presented, as well as the monitoring of the implementation on a national level of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

As part of the social and cultural programme, the young statisticians had the opportunity to learn about the rich historical heritage and traditions of the cities of Lovech and Veliko Tarnovo.

The NSI Bulgaria is increasingly successful in supporting and promoting the strengthening of the institutional and administrative capacity of the statistical offices of the Western Balkan countries by training young experts from these countries in order to enhance their qualifications and adopt European statistical standards. Over the last eight years, the NSI has provided and continues to provide technical assistance to countries in the region through numerous European projects.